Fed Cup: Ankita wins twice, India beat Thailand 2-1

TIL Desk Sports/ India staved off an unexpected scare from lower-ranked Thailand as Ankita Raina won her both singles and doubles matches to lead the side to a 2-1 win in their Fed Cup opener, in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday.

Taking the court first, Karman Kaur Thandi, ranked 211, suffered a shock 2-6, 6-3, 3-6 defeat to Nudinda Luangnam, who is ranked as low as 712 in the world.

The onus to bring the team back then rested on country’s number one singles player Ankita, who lost the first but regrouped to secure a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-4 win over Peangtarn Plipuech in the second singles.

With scores 1-1, the doubles became the decisive rubber and captain Vishal Uppal fielded both the singles players. The combination of Ankita and Karman then had to battle hard for two hours and 38 minutes to go past the fighting Thai combo of Peangtarn and Nudinda 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-5 in a thriller.