Former World No.11 Anastasija Sevastova blew hot and cold, but was firmly in control of the match as she beat Ankita Raina 6-0, 7-6(4) to seal the tie 3-0 for Latvia in the Billie Jean King Cup World Group playoff in Jurmala on Saturday.
When the youngsters were given a chance to get a feel of a dead rubber at this level, Rutuja Bhosale and Zeel Desai grabbed the opportunity for a face saving doubles victory over Patricija Spaka and Daniela Vismane.
Sevastova had a different grade of tennis, quite solid as Ankita pointed out about the first set, which was over in a jiffy.
At 2-5, 15-40 in the second set, Sevastova was too sharp to let Ankita smell any chance of taking the set, even when she had those two set points. It was a mystery that the 31-year-old Sevastova actually made mistakes that gave Ankita hope and stretched the set into the tie-break.
The results: Latvia bt India 3-1 (Anastasija Sevastova bt Ankita Raina 6-0, 7-6(4); Patricija Spaka & Daniela Vismane lost to Rutuja Bhosale & Zeel Desai 4-6, 7-5, [2-10]).
