After being in cloud nine in the first two days, the third day at the Fed Cup turned out to be a reality check for India as they were steamrolled by the Chinese in the final Pool A engagement of the Asia Oceania Zone Group 1 women's team tennis competition in New Delhi on Friday.
The Chinse stamped their supremacy as Jie Zheng outclassed Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-3, 6-0 before Na Li tamed Shikha Uberoi 6-1 6-2 at the R K Khanna stadium.
Ting Li and Tian Tian Sun, Athens women's doubles gold medallist, then completed the whitewash with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Ankita Bhambri and Rushmi Chakravarthi.
China will play pool B topper Australia in the knockout game tomorrow, the winner getting to play the World Group play-off in July.
Australia took the top spot in their pool after Evie Dominokovic and Samantha Stosur won their singles matches against Korea.
India remain in Group 1, having ensured they don't finish in the bottom two with victories over Singapore and Kazakhstan in the pool fixtures.
Their next match against Korea, the second placed team in the pool B would be of academic interest.
Captain Enrico Piperno said he had always considered it a tough ask against the top seeded China, particularly without the services of the number one player Sania Mirza who was laid down by an ankle injury
"It was always going to be a tall order against the Chinese. I had only hoped that Shikha would do better but unfortunately that girl (Li) came up with a better gameplan and gave her no chance," he said.
Shikha struggled throughout the match to keep pace with the relentless powerhitting of Li, ranked 41 in the world.
"Shikha couldn't do anything, her strength is her groundstrokes but Li absolutely peppered them," Piperno said.
"She (Li) was hitting her shots very deep and Shikha was always retrieving."
India had the advantage of having played on the Centre Court on the first two days whereas China's earlier matches were confined to the side courts.
That, however, made little difference. The Chinese craft was on full display as Zheng, broken in the very first game, quickly adjusted to the surface and began dictating terms to Rushmi.
Zheng, only the second Chinese woman to have won a WTA title, had a breakpoint in the sixth game, and converted it while punishing the Indian's backhand that clipped the net and sat up nicely for her.The vociferous crowd, at times even berating the linesmen, was got behind the hosts but Zheng kept herself composed.
A cross court winner by the 21-year old Chinese followed by a backhand error by Rushmi resulted in a double breakpoint and the latter put her forehand into the net to drop serve in the eighth game.
The second set was a one way traffic as the chasm in the ranking, nearly 200 places, told.
Shikha did not have the right start as she could not get her first serves in. A double fault and wide forehand saw her go 15-40 down and she hit another forehand wide to drop serve in the second game.
The US-based Indian, who had reached the second round of the US Open last year, brokeback in the next game but that turned out to be the only time when Li was a bit excited.
Li had beaten Sania Mirza in the Asian Tennis Championship final in Tashkent last year but was facing Shikha for the first time. She needed only that much time to size up her opponent before running away with the match.
Li immediately stepped on the gas to force a double breakpoint and converted the second with a lethal backhand.
From there on, the home fans were left to admiring the powerful and efficient shotmaking of the 23-year-old on both sides of the court.
It was as late as in the last game, with Li serving for the match, that Shikha came up with some kind of an answer to the opponent.
With nothing to lose now, Shikha upped the ante to save a match point and force two breakpoints of her own.
But Li, a bit choking under the pressure, regained control to put out the late challenge.
