Fed Cup: Rutuja wins but India, Taiwan locked 1-1

Rutuja Bhosale made to work hard by Ya-Yi Yang in opening singles.

Rutuja Bhosale rallied from the brink in the deciding set to win yet another marathon contest but Ankita Raina suffered her second straight singles defeat as India and Taiwan were locked 1-1 in their Fed Cup match , in Dubai, on Friday.

Up against lower-ranked Ya-Yi Yang, Rutuja made a confident start but had to arrest a mid-match slump to eke out a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6) win over a player who is placed at 852 as compared to her 433rd ranking.

In the second singles, Ankita Raina clashed with En Shuo Liang but lost 6-3, 2-6, 3-6 after saving two match-points in the decider.

Now the doubles has become decisive. Sania Mirza and Ankita are scheduled to play Hao-Ching Chan and Latisha Chan.

After splitting the first two sets, Rutuja looked slipping away fast as she trailed 0-4 but made a stunning comeback to stretch the match to the tie-breaker.

She eventually held her nerve to pull it off after saving three match-points in the contest that lasted two hours and 44 minutes.

India lost to China before beating Uzbekistana and Korea.

The top-two teams in the six-nation Asia/Ocenia Group I will make it to the play-offs in April.