Dominant Day For New Zealand Against Pacific Oceania
It was close to perfection for the New Zealand team on the second day of the Billie Jean King Cup in China on Wednesday.
After the disappointment of losing 3-0 to South Korea on the opening day of the tournament, New Zealand won all three matches against Pacific Oceania on Wednesday, losing just one game across the six sets of tennis.
The day started with Monique Barry’s 6-0 6-0 win over Mehetia Boosie that went for just 51 minutes.
This was followed by Lulu Sun’s equally emphatic 6-0 6-0 victory over Ruby Coffin by the same scoreline. Not only did it take just 39 minutes to complete the win, Coffin won just 10 points in the entire match
With the Asia/Oceania Group I tie in the bag, New Zealand captain Matt Hair decided to play Paige Hourigan and Valentina Ivanov in the doubles, so Erin Routliffe got the day off.
It was almost as good for Hourigan and Ivanov as it had been for the singles players, as they defeated Boosie and Coffin 6-0 6-1.
It was a similar story across all three matches, with the Pacific Oceania players unable to cope with the power of the Kiwis in rallies, while Boosie and Coffin struggled with consistency.
The result keeps New Zealand in the hunt for promotion from the group, although it’s likely they’ll need to win two of their remaining three ties, which are against India, Chinese Taipei and China, while also hope that other results go their way.
On Thursday New Zealand will play against top seeds, China.