Tennis at Tokyo Olympics 2020: Sania Mirza/Ankita Raina vs Nadiia Kichenok/Lyudmyla Kichenok Preview, Head to head and Prediction

India’s Sania Mirza/Ankita Raina will take on Ukraine’s Nadiia Kichenok/Lyudmyla Kichenok in the first round of 2020 Tokyo Olympics on July 25.

Sania Mirza/Ankita Raina vs Nadiia Kichenok/Lyudmyla Kichenok: Preview

Sania Mirza is a veteran on the women’s doubles tour and has also been the World No.1 with Martina Hingis a few years ago. The 34-year-old will also be representing India in the Olympics for the fourth time in her career. Back in the day, Sania has teamed up with Sunitha Rao, Rushmi Chakravarthi and Prarthana Thombare. However, Mirza, along with partner Bethanie Mattek Sanda lost in the second round at Wimbledon, Meanwhile, her partner Ankita will be making her maiden appearance at the mega event.

On the other hand, Nadiia Kichenok and Lyudmyla Kichenok are a settled pair, after playing with each other since the beginning. The Ukrainians have won three titles together on the WTA tour before, which will help their confidence going ahead. The Kichenok sisters will also be making their debut at the grand event in Tokyo.

Sania Mirza/Ankita Raina vs Nadiia Kichenok/Lyudmyla Kichenok: Head to Head

These two teams have never met on the WTA tour till now. That said, the Mirza has played the sisters before and has tasted success too.

Sania Mirza/Ankita Raina vs Nadiia Kichenok/Lyudmyla Kichenok: Prediction

While the Indian pair of Mirza and Raina will come into this match as a relatively new team, the Ukrainian sisters will be at home, since the duo has teamed up on multiple occasions in the past. The Indian duo was only seen recently at the Bille Jean King Cup playoff tie, which incidentally was their first time together on the court. Much of the outcome will depend on how Sania/Ankita serve, as both are known to commit several errors in that department. Also, it will be interesting to see how the Indians plan their strategy to upset the set pairing of Ukrainian siblings. For this match might eventually come down to experience of playing together. Mirza/Raina will need to play at a very high level to come through this opening round test.

Match Prediction: Nadiia Kichenok/Lyudmyla Kichenok should win in three sets.

Also read: Tennis at Tokyo Olympics 2020: Andrey Rublev vs Kei Nishikori Preview, Head to Head and Prediction

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