New Delhi, April 10 Zeel Desai secured a straight-set victory in her Billie Jean King Cup debut against 15-year-old Anu-Vjin Gantor, giving India a 1-0 lead over Mongolia in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie, here on Friday.
Desai dominated her opponent 6-0, 6-0 in just 37 minutes at the DLTA Complex.
Considering Gantor's inexperience, who has only managed to win one game so far in the tournament, India captain Vishal Uppal decided to field Desai, giving her some match practice.
Clearly, the unranked Gantor is not yet ready to compete at this level. She still has much to learn, but such defeats can also be demoralizing. Putting an inexperienced player at this level may have been due to a lack of alternatives.
Gantor barely won any points on her own. She only gained a point when Desai made an unforced error.
The Mongolian teenager seemed to lack the will to fight, instead resigning herself to defeat. She was unable to return the balls effectively, as they consistently went out of the lines, making the match a dull affair.
The Indian camp will not complain, as they need to win this tie against Mongolia and against Korea on Saturday to stay competitive in the play-off race.
The defeat against Thailand put India in a difficult position.
The top two teams in the six-team event will advance to the play-offs, while the bottom two will be relegated to Group II.