MUMBAI: Having just finished an intense training session at the CCI courts on Sunday, Ankita Raina looked confused when asked about the return of the L&T Mumbai Open for the first time since 2018. The second edition of the WTA 125K Series event had taken place across the first week of November that year, except that India's top-ranked female singles player just couldn't recall it.
Raina seemed convinced that the only edition of the tournament had been held in 2017 - the year when Aryna Sabalenka, now a two-time Australian Open champion, won the title. "I'm just wondering where was I during the second one," she told TOI. In reality, Raina was very much a part of that tournament, reaching the second round in the singles and suffering a first-round elimination in the doubles event.