Indian tennis player Ankita Raina won her first singles title of the 2019 season and eighth overall after defeating Arantxa Rus in straight sets in the final of the USD 25,000 event in Singapore. It is Ankita Raina’s fourth title at the USD 25k level and the others were at the USD 10,000 level. Last year Ankia Raina won two titles — Gwalior (25k) and Nonthaburi (25k). Ankita Raina will play two more tournaments before gearing up for the Fed Cup, starting in the first week of February at Astana, Kazakhstan.

Tidbits:

• Arantxa Rus is a Dutch tennis player.
• The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis.
• The four Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the Majors) are especially popular: the Australian Open played on hard courts, the French Open played on red clay courts, Wimbledon played on grass courts, and the US Open also played on hard courts.
• Tennis is played on a rectangular, flat surface. The court is 78 feet (23.77 m) long, and 27 feet (8.2 m) wide for singles matches and 36 ft (11 m) for doubles matches.
• The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation.
• Headquarters : London, England, UK.
• Current President :  David Haggerty.