Billie Jean cup | Slovenia outclassed India and topped the group

For brief periods, the crowd at the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium here began to believe in the impossible. But eventually the reality of the Slovenian superior class became clear.

Led by Tamara Zidansek and Kaja Juvan, Slovenia guided the visitor to a 2-1 win over India on Saturday in the play-offs of the Billie Jean King Cup. With two consecutive wins in two days, Slovenia topped the group and advanced to the qualifying round.

India and the Netherlands, who face each other in an inconsequential draw on Sunday, have been relegated to Group I.

The action started with a spirited performance from India’s number two Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, who managed to stretch 2021 French Open semi-finalist Zidansek to three sets. Zidansek was dominant in the first set, helped by Shrivalli’s struggle with early nerves.

Shrivalli found her service rhythm to hit top gear in the second set. The fans and her teammates on the sidelines rose from their seats in excitement as Shrivalli stepped in and cleaned up all of Zidansek’s weak results.

Shrivalli, ranked 381 in the world, buried Zidansek under a barrage of forehand winners to force a decider. The third set started with loud chants in support of India, but Zidansek was determined to spoil the party.

It was now Zidansek’s turn to hit the right spot on her serve and her confidence grew as she held the serve with ease. After two hours and 19 minutes it was 1-0 for Slovenia.

World No. 309 Sahaja Yamalapalli, unlike Shrivalli, went for her shots from the very first point. There was fire in her groundstrokes, which surprised Juvan (world number 98). Once again the home hopes rose as Sahaja consistently kept the ball deep in Juvan’s baseline. Sahaja came closer and sent the moon balls with confident volleys, staying in the match at 4-4.

However, a few mistakes crept into Sahaja’s game and the effervescence was lost. The athletic Juvan frustrated Sahaja by taking the ball from all corners of the court and used clever drop shots to overwhelm Sahaja. Sahaja went into a grenade in the second set and Juvan sailed through in straight sets. The Indian dream of securing a historic top spot in the qualifiers will have to wait another year.

Ankita Raina and Prarthana Thombare gave India a consolation win in the doubles by eliminating Dalila Jakupovic and Nika Radisic.

The result: Slovenia bt India 2-1 (Tamara Zidansek bt Shrivalli Bhamidipaty 6-3, 4-6, 6-1; Kaja Juvan bt Sahaja Yamalapalli 6-4, 6-2; Dalila Jakupovic/Nika Radisic lost to Ankita Raina/Prarthana Thombare 1-6, 6-3, 7-10).