Young debutant Vaishnavi Adkar and Sahaja Yamalapalli notched up convincing wins as India bounced back in style, blanking New Zealand 3-0 in their second Asia/Oceania Group I tie of the Billie Jean King Cup here on Wednesday. Vaishnavi and Sahaja had endured contrasting defeats as India went down 1-2 to Thailand in their rain-hit opener.
However, the hosts scripted a swift turnaround, with both players showing composure under pressure in their respective singles matches against New Zealand, who are without their star player Lulu Sun. Entrusted with the responsibility again, Vaishnavi showed marked improvement, executing her shots with far greater control to outplay Aishi Das 6-2 6-4 in one hour and 30 minutes.
Sahaja then outclassed Valentina Ivanov 6-1 6-3 in the second singles to keep their campaign alive. In the doubles, Rutuja Bhosale and Ankita Raina recorded a 6-4 6-2 win over the combination of world No. 11 Erin Routliffe and world no. 338 Monique Barry to complete the drubbing.
Vaishnavi vs Das
Vaishnavi capitalised on Das` inconsistency to take control of the opening set. Despite trailing 15-40 early on serve, the Indian earned the first break as Das squandered a 40-15 lead with a string of errors. She then held through a tight deuce battle to move 2-0 ahead. Vaishnavi showed resilience under pressure in the third game, saving two break points, and maintained her advantage as both players held their serve to 3-1.
The Indian struck again in the fifth game, converting her second break point to extend the lead. Although Das broke back, Vaishnavi responded immediately with another break and comfortably served out the set 6-2, finishing with an ace. In the second set, Vaishnavi stayed composed despite Das` improved start. After levelling at 1-1, she broke in the third game and consolidated for a 3-1 lead, dictating play with a mix of aggressive baseline shots and controlled serving.
Das mounted a late challenge, breaking back to level at 4-4 after Vaishnavi gave away a 40-0 lead. However, she quickly regained control, breaking again in the ninth game as Das faltered with consecutive errors. Serving for the match, Vaishnavi held her nerve in a tense finish, closing it out after forcing another mistake from Das to seal the win.
“It was my first match as a player in the Billie Jean King Cup, so I was definitely very nervous. I did not handle my nerves well. But that was a lesson learned for me,” Vaishnavi told reporters. “Coming on court today, I had to focus on what I do best. And all I had to do was go to court and give my best.”
Sahaja vs Valentina
In yet another heavy baseline slugfest, Sahaja played some superb forehand drives and looked in good touch as she took the court again for the second time on Wednesday. She broke her opponent in the first game itself after converting two break points. The Indian was then broken by Valentina but she broke back again in the third game to go 2-1 up.
Sahaja controlled the rally and with great anticipation eventually took the opening set 6-1. Sahaja took the momentum to the next set. She stayed in the rally and waited for her opponent to make mistakes. The Indian broke Valentina in the second game and then held her own to go 3-1. If the fifth game, a cross court winner helped Sahaja move to 4-1, Valentina too held her serve as it was 4-2.
In the seventh game, Valentina looked solid from the baseline and broke Sahaja after forcing her into error, grabbing two break points. She sealed it when Sahaja hit the net. In the next game, the Indian converted her fourth breakpoint to lead 5-3. Serving for the match, Sahaja prevailed in another baseline duel. A superb drop earned her match point and she sealed it when Valentina went long.
“I`m happy with the win. It was a tough match (against Thailand) to swallow. We expected a different result, we did what we could, we fought our heart out,” Sahaja said. “I wasn`t happy with the startegies I executed (in first match) so I told myself to do that better to close out the matches. We need to fight for every point, support each other and see where it takes us.”
Earlier in the day, Bhosale and Raina beat Thasaporn Naklo and Peangtarn Plipuech 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 11 minutes in the doubles after Sahaja`s narrow defeat in the second singles as India went down against Thailand. A lot was riding on world No. 384 Sahaja as she resumed the match after it was halted due to rain on Tuesday evening.
However, the 25-year-old could not keep India in the hunt, losing 4-6 6-1 4-6 to Patcharin, ranked 449, in a match that lasted two hours and 25 minutes.
Resuming at 3-4 in the decider, Sahaja sent a forehand wide as Patcharin held serve to move 5-3 ahead. The Indian then held her serve after a Patcharin backhand slice found the net, narrowing the gap to 4-5.
With the match on knife`s edge, Sahaja produced some exceptional groundstrokes, dominating baseline exchanges. She even earned a break point when the Thai hit long. However, she faltered at the crucial juncture, sending a forehand and a backhand long to hand the advantage back. A miscued return on the next point ended her resistance. On Tuesday, debutant Vaishnavi Adkar had cracked under pressure, committing a flurry of unforced errors in a 1-6 3-6 loss to Aunchisa Chanta.
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