Taiwan defeated China 2-1 in the opening match of their Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Group I campaign at the True Arena in Hua Hin, Thailand, yesterday.
World No. 156 Chang Kai-chen got Taiwan’s campaign off to a fantastic start, defeating world No. 94 Wang Qiang 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in 1 hour, 42 minutes in the opening singles rubber.
Chang saved four of seven break points and converted four of seven, winning 89 of the 176 points contested in a closely contested opener in Pool B.
World No. 82 Hsieh Su-wei then gave Taiwan an unassailable 2-0 lead in the second singles rubber, battling back from a set down to win tight encounter that lasted 3 hours, 8 minutes.
Hsieh saved 12 of 18 break points and converted nine of 15 in her 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-3 victory over world No. 71 Zheng Saisai, winning 134 of the 253 points contested.
It was looking good for a whitewash, with sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan to come in the doubles rubber, but the world No. 11 and world No. 10, who were seeded second at the first Grand Slam of the season in Melbourne last month, fell to a shock 6-3, 5-7, 6-0 defeat to world No. 37 Liang Chen and world No. 51 Wang Yafan in exactly 2 hours.
Next up for Taiwan today are pool favorites Kazakhstan, who eased to a 3-0 victory over South Korea in their opening match yesterday.
Hosts Thailand crushed India 3-0 in their opening match, while pool favorites Japan fell to a shock 2-1 defeat to Uzbekistan.
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