ITF Women's 25K tournament to showcase best of women's tennis

BENGALURU: Top-ranked women's tennis players from across the world will battle it out for the crown at the ITF Women's 25K tournament in both the singles and doubles categories, starting from February 26 here at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence.

The tournament is the premier event sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and will be hosted under the aegis of All India Tennis Association (AITA), and Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA).

The qualifying rounds will be played on February 26-27 with the main draw set to begin on February 28.

Ankita Raina, World No. 245, and World No. 265 Karman Kaur Thandi will be the top-ranked Indian women to feature in the tournament. Playing alongside them will be two younger players who train at the PBI -- CSE tennis academy, Sahaja Yamalapalli and Soha Sadiq.

Vivek Kumar, Founder of Padukone - Dravid Centre of Sports Excellence said: "A tournament of this calibre helps women tennis players of our country gain the much-needed ITF points to climb up in the world tennis rankings. Not only do they gain crucial points, but it also benefits them financially as they save on the travel costs which they would have spent to commute to foreign countries to play in ITF tournaments."

"We welcome Padukone – Dravid Centre of Sports Excellence and Vivek Kumar as the hosts for this tournament. They have excellent facilities and it will be a great experience for the participants. I wish Indian players best of luck and hope they make the best of this opportunity to impress the fans with some brilliant performances," said Maheshwar Rao, IAS, Honorary Secretary, KSLTA.

With Sania Mirza's retirement closing the chapter on our country's most decorated female tennis player, it is time for the new generation of women tennis players to succeed at the world stage.