Ankita Raina’s heroics — she beat her nemesis Lin Zhu — could not lift India past China in the Fed Cup Asia-Oceania group women’s tennis at the R.K. Khanna Stadium here on Wednesday.
Ankita was superb as she outplayed Lin Zhu 6-2, 6-3 in the second rubber, after the 19-year-old Karman Kaur Thandi succumbed — possibly to a bout of nerves — 6-2, 6-2 to Yafan Wang in the first match.
With doubles specialist Prarthana Thombare joining Ankita for the decisive third rubber, there was hope of India getting past China.
Powerful combination
That was dashed by the powerful combination of Yafan Wang and Zhaoxuan Yang, who pulled through a tricky phase in the second set to record a 6-2, 7-6(1) victory.
Karman played well in patches but was up against a high quality player.
Yafan’s brilliance
In fact, it was 23-year-old Yafan’s brilliance — both in her singles and the doubles later in the afternoon — that tilted the tie in favour of China.
The 125th ranked Yafan, who reached a career-best 49 in doubles last year, dictated the flow of both matches from the back and at the net.
There was some solace for the host as the 25-year-old Ankita was flawless. She twice recovered from being double breakpoints down to clinch the first set, and took a 4-1 lead in the second set despite dropping serve in the fourth game, to coast to victory.
Having lost thrice to the 120th ranked Lin Zhu in three sets each, including the Fed Cup last year, it was a commendable execution from the 253rd ranked Ankita.
India will next play Kazakhstan which outplayed Hong Kong for the loss of nine games in all.
In the other group, Japan prevailed over Thailand 3-0, while Korea meted out a similar treatment to Chinese Taipei.
Earlier Union Sports Minister Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore inaugurated the event.
The results:
Pool-A: China bt India 2-1 (Yafan Wang bt Karman Kaur Thandi 6-2, 6-2; Lin Zhu lost to Ankita Raina 6-2, 6-3; Yafan Wang & Zhaoxuan Yang bt Ankita Raina & Prarthana Thombare 6-2, 7-6(1)).
Kazakhstan bt Hong Kong 3-0.
Pool-B: Japan bt Thailand 3-0.
Korea bt Chinese Taipei 3-0
