Vaishnavi Adkar’s straight-set win over New Zealand’s Aishi Das put India on the road to victory in the Billie Jean King Cup at the DLTA Tennis Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
India rode on its young singles players to bounce back and win its second tie against New Zealand 3-0 to stay in contention for a top-two finish in the Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group I and a spot in the Playoffs here on Wednesday despite rains threatening to play spoilsport.
After a disappointing 2-1 loss against Thailand in the opening tie that stretched across two days due to inclement weather, Vaishnavi Adkar and Sahaja Yamalapalli fought back, the latter within hours of her opening match, to give India a 2-0 lead at the DLTA Complex.
The experienced pair of Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale then completed the formalities with a 6-4, 6-2 win against the fancied pair of Erin Routliffe and Monique Barry to be third on the table.
Taking charge
Vaishnavi, who was all over the place in the opening match on Tuesday, was far more in control of her shots and won 6-2, 6-4 against Aishi Das.
Clearly superior to her 18-year-old opponent ranked more than 700 places behind, Vaishnavi dominated with a more assured presence, relying on her accuracy and Aishi’s inconsistency to race to a 6-2 win in the first set.
With the sun shining through, Vaishnavi was able to control the ball’s speed much better and broke Aishi in the opening game, then in the fifth and seventh games to take the set.
Aishi put up an improved performance in the second, fighting back from being 4-1 down to level 4-4 but Vaishnavi quickly regained control and served out the match when Aishi hit wide.
Sahaja, who only had 5.5 hours between her two matches, showed no signs of fatigue against Valentina Ivanov in her 6-1, 6-3 win in one hour 25 minutes.
Intelligently mixing her strokes and pushing Valentina hard to earn every point across the court, Sahaja added soft drops and volleys to her powerful returns from the baseline to stay in control.
Earlier, in the morning, India lost the opening tie against Thailand 2-1 after Patcharin Cheapchandej won her overnight match against Sahaja 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
Ankita and Rutuja completed a consolation win against Thasaporn Naklo and Peangtarn Plipuech 6-3, 6-4.
In the other unfinished encounter from Tuesday, New Zealand’s Monique Barry and Erin Routliffe got the better of Priska Madelyn Nugroho and Aldila Sutjiadi 4-6, 6-0, [10-6] but Indonesia won 2-1.
The results: India bt New Zealand 3-0 [Vaishnavi Adkar bt Aishi Das 6-2, 6-4; Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Valentina Ivanov 6-1, 6-3; Rutuja Bhosale & Ankita Raina bt Monique Barry & Erin Routliffe 6-4, 6-2].
Indonesia bt Mongolia 3-0 [Aldila Sutjiadi bt Anu-Vjin Gantor 6-0, 6-0; Anjali Kirana Junarto bt Khongorzul Aldarkhishig 6-2, 6-0; Anjali & Meydiana Laviola Reinnamah bt Jargal Altansarnai & Oyungerel Khasbaatar 6-0, 6-0].
Korea bt Thailand 3-0 [Dayeon Back bt Anchisa Chanta 6-3, 6-4; Sohyun Park bt Patcharin Cheapchandej 6-4, 6-1; Dayeon & Eunhye Lee bt Thasaporn Naklo & Kamonwan Yodpetch 6-4, 7-6(4)].
Published – April 08, 2026 09:29 pm IST
