Vaishnavi rebounds with straight-set win, gives India 1-0 lead over New Zealand

NEW DELHI: Young debutant Vaishnavi Adkar bounced back in style, registering a 6-2, 6-4 win over Aishi Das in the opening singles to give India a 1-0 lead against New Zealand in their second Asia/Oceania Group I tie of the Billie Jean King Cup here on Wednesday.

Vaishnavi had endured a disappointing start to her campaign on Tuesday as India went down 1-2 to Thailand in a rain-hit opener.

Entrusted with the responsibility again, the youngster showed marked improvement, cutting down on unforced errors and executing her shots with far greater control to outplay Das in an hour and 30 minutes.

"It was my first match playing 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."

Vaishnavi dominated the key moments, capitalising 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 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.

In the second singles, Sahaja Yamalapalli will face Valentina Ivanov, while Rutuja Bhosale and Ankita Raina will take on Monique Barry and Erin Routliffe.

Earlier in the day, Rutuja Bhosale and Ankita Raina salvaged some pride with a consolation win in the doubles after Sahaja Yamalapalli's narrow defeat in the second singles as India went down against Thailand 1-2 in the rain-hit opener.

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.

Doubles pair of Bhosale and Raina then beat Thasaporn Naklo and Peangtarn Plipuech 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 11 minutes.

Earlier, 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.

In the inconsequential doubles, Bhosale and Raina produced a superlative show, breaking early to race to a 5-0 lead against Thasaporn Naklo and Peangtarn Plipuech.

The Thai pair fought back, holding serve twice and breaking once to reduce the deficit to 3-5.

Serving for the set, the Indians raced to 40-0 and closed it out comfortably with Raina finishing with an overhead smash.

In the second set, both pairs held serve to be level at 3-3 before Bhosale and Raina secured the decisive break in the seventh game and went on to seal the set 6-4.