Vaishnavi, Sahaja power India to 3-0 sweep over New Zealand in BJK Cup

New Delhi: 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 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.