Ankita enters semis

Top seed Ankita Raina eased into the singles semifinals with a dominating 6-1, 6-4 victory over an off -colour Eetee Maheta in the ONGC $10,000 ITF women’s tournament at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) complex here on Thursday.

Ankita now plays seventh-seeded Natasha Palha, who overcame Nidhi Chilumula 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in a match lasting two hours and 35 minutes.

It was curtains for Bangalore girl Sharmada Balu, who lost a close encounter against second-seeded Rishika Sunkara 2-6, 6-3, 4-6. Sharmada did well to make it a set all and even led 4-2 in the decider. But she let the momentum slip and Rishika, producing some splendid backhand returns, closed the set and the match.

“I played really well in the first set but she got back her rhythm in the second which forced me to shift gears. It was really close in the final game but I focused only on playing the points,” said Rishika, who now plays qualifier Kanika Vaidya, who stopped fifth-seeded Shweta Rana 6-2, 7-5.

Results: Women’s singles (Quarterfinals, Indians unless mentioned): Ankita Raina (1) bt Eetee Maheta (6) 6-1, 6-4; Kanika Vaidya bt Shweta Rana (5) 6-2, 7-5; Natasha Palha (7) bt Nidhi Chilumula (4) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4; Rishika Sunkara (2) bt Sharmada Balu 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.