Chennai

Despite the lose, India had a great start as Sania and Ankita entered the fray with absolute dominance taking the first set 6-0, not giving any chance to the Kichenok sisters.

The match became intense with the Ukranian team making a comeback 5-5 in the second set. With both the teams going strong, second set tiebreaker was a definite future which the Ukranian duo won 7-0, leveling the score and establishing their return in the game. The match was eventually led to a super tiebreaker. The Kichenok twins, who were barely surviving in the first set, secured their win in the third set super tiebreaker and the match to enter round 2.

With this defeat, India’s hope of a medal in Tennis lies solely on Sumit Naga, who beat Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in the first round of men’s singles match in the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. Nagal will face World No. 2 and Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev in his next match.

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