Fed Cup: Rutuja goes down fighting, India trail China 0-1

Rutuja Bhosale fought her heart out before losing to world number 35 Shuai Zhang in the first singles as India trailed China 0-1 on the opening day of the Fed Cup competition, here on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old from Pune led 3-1 with an early break of serve but Shuai showed why she is a top-50 player as the Chinese won the match 6-4 6-2 in one hour and 16 minutes.

Shuai, who reached the Australian Open third round where she lost to eventual champion Sofia Kenin, broke Rutuja early in the second set to race to a 3-1 lead and never looked back.

To her credit, the 433rd ranked Rutuja gave her all in the contest as captain Vishal Uppal preferred her ahead of higher-ranked Riya Bhatia (388), who is yet to play a singles match in Fed Cup.

Riya lost the two doubles matches she played in 2017 (against China) and 2019 (against Kazakhstan).

The onus to bring India back in the contest now rests on India number one Ankita Raina, who is up against world number 29 Qiang Wang. Wang had defeated Serena Williams in the third round of the Australian Open in January.

The top two teams in the six-nation Asia/Oceania Group I will qualify for the Play-offs, to be held next month.