Ankita Raina reaches Gurugram Open semifinal with come-from-behind win

Ankita Raina registered a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 comeback win over Sweden's Jacqueline Cabaj Awad to reach the semifinals of the ITF Women's Open in Gurugram on Friday.

Ankita will take on Lithuanian third seed Justina Mikulskyte in the first semifinal. Justina defeated Russian qualifier Ekaterina Kazionova 6-3, 6-2.

Ankita and Jacqueline held their respective serves until the fourth game, where the Indian committed some errors to concede the fifth game.

Jacqueline raced to a 5-2 lead before Ankita staged a comeback. As she broke the Swede's serve in the eighth game, besides holding her serve in the ninth, Jacqueline eventually lost the set.

Anika fought back in the second set as she went 3-0 up with a break in the second game. She also Jacuqeline's serve in the sixth game before claiming the set 6-2.

But Ankita committed a couple of unforced errors that proved costly for her in the opening game of the deciding set.

Jacqueline went up 4-2 before Ankita ramped up her game, forcing the Swede to commit mistakes.

The Indian star earned an important break in the eighth game and levelled the score.

Ankita eventually took advantage of a tiring Jacqueline, breaking her serve in the eighth game and halting the Swede’s bid for her 10th ITF title.

Ankita, meanwhile, will be in the fray for the women's doubles title as she and her doubles partner Zhibek Kulambayevam of Kazakhstan reached the final by beating the Indo-Japanese pair Riya Bhatia and Michika Ozeki 7-5 6-2.

Ankita and Zhibek will face Jacqueline and Justina Mikulskyte in the final.