India’s hopes of advancing to the Billie Jean King Cup playoffs suffered a blow as it lost 0-3 to Indonesia in the Asia/Oceania Group I contest in New Delhi on Thursday.

Janice Tjen, the highest-ranked player here, broke no sweat in her 6-2, 6-1 win against Sahaja Yamalapalli in 58 minutes to seal the tie after Vaishnavi Adkar went down fighting to Priska Madelyn Nugroho 6-7(3), 7-6(3), 6-3 in the first match.

The World No. 41 cruised home in the opening set, breaking Sahaja in the first game and taking a 3-1 lead. Though the Indian managed to hold serve for the only time in the set, Janice racked up points to win 6-2 in just 31 minutes.

In the second, Sahaja was able to win just a solitary game, unable to handle her opponent’s powerful shots. The 23-year-old Indonesian had won her maiden singles title at the Chennai Open last year.

Janice returned for the doubles match with the experienced Aldila Sutjiadi as partner. The duo defeated Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale 6-3, 7-6(4), handing the Indian pair its first reverse of the week.

India’s Rutuja Bhosale and Ankita Raina celebrate a point. The Indonesian pair of Janice and Sutjiadi defeated the Indians in the doubles match. | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Earlier, Vaishnavi battled hard against Priska. She rallied from 3-5, 15-40 down in the first set and saved three set points. Vaishnavi, who mixed her shots well, broke the Indonesian to pull level 5-5 and took the set to a tie-breaker before winning it 7-3.

The second set went Priska’s way, again in the tie-breaker.

In the decider, a visibly fatigued Vaishnavi faltered, netting a double-fisted backhand after a three-hour six-minute marathon.

Published on Apr 09, 2026