Billie Jean King Cup 2026: India lose 3

India lost 3-0 to Indonesia in its third Billie Jean King Cup 2026 Asia-Oceania Group I tie at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association Stadium on Thursday.

In the first singles match of the tie, Vaishnavi Adkar, ranked 383rd, lost 7(7)-6(3), 6(3)-7(7), 3-6 to world No. 193 Priska Nugroho as Indonesia took a 1-0 lead.

The 21-year-old Indian tennis player saw her serve broken in the very first game. However, Adkar showed enough resilience to bounce back.

She saved four set points and went toe-to-toe with her higher-ranked opponent before clinching the first set in a tie-breaker.

Adkar was broken early again in the second set before she fought back to force a tie-breaker. This time, though, the scores were reversed as Nugroho forced a third set.

In the decider, Adkar broke Nugroho as early as in the second game but lost the plot after that as the Indonesian sealed her win after a marathon match which lasted three hours and six minutes.

In the second singles rubber, world No. 384 Sahaja Yamalapalli had her work cut out for her against world No. 41 Janice Tjen, the best-ranked player in the Asia/Oceania Group I.

The scoreline was 6-2, 6-1 in the Indonesian’s favour as Team Indonesia took an unassailable 2-0 lead.

Rutuja Bhosale and Olympian Ankita Raina lost 6-3, 7(7)-6(4) to Tjen and Aldila Sutjiadi in the doubles match.

This was India’s second loss in the BJKC 2026 Asia/Oceania Group I. They lost 2-1 to Thailand in the opener before beating New Zealand 3-0 in the second tie.

India are yet to face the Republic of Korea and Mongolia before the group concludes.

All six tennis teams in the Billie Jean King Cup 2026 Asia/Oceania Group I are competing in a round-robin format through Saturday, with the top two nations advancing to the playoffs.

Last year, India hosted the Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group I stage for the first time at Pune’s Mahalunge Balewadi Tennis Complex.

The Indian tennis team finished the group as runner-ups behind New Zealand to qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup playoffs. However, India’s run ended in the playoffs after losses to the Netherlands and Slovenia.

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