Ankita Raina put up a brave performance against world No. 29 Wang Qiang, but China took an unbeatable 2-0 lead against India in the opening league match of the Fed Cup Asia-Oceania women’s tennis tournament here on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old Ankita, ranked 160 in the world, survived two match points to stretch the contest against Wang Qiang, who eventually prevailed 1-6, 6-2, 6-4, in two hours and 24 minutes.
In the first singles, world No. 35 Shuai Zhang beat the 433rd ranked Rutuja Bhosale 6-4, 6-2 to provide a strong start for China.
The defeat apart, it was a good start for India which will have four more matches against Uzbekistan, Korea, Chinese Taipei and Indonesia in that order, in the round robin league.
With two teams qualifying for the next stage, India still has a good chance to step it up after the strong fight against the best team in the field.
The results (league):
China leads India 2-0 (Shuai Zhang bt Rutuja Bhosale 6-4, 6-2; Wang Qiang bt Ankita Raina 1-6, 6-2, 6-4).