New Zealand beat South Korea in Billie Jean King Cup

New Zealand have defeated South Korea 2-1 to move another step closer to making it through to the Billie Jean King Cup World Group playoffs later this year.

In their second match of the Asia/Oceania World Group I tournament in Pune, India, the Matt Hair captained team picked up a huge win over one of the other heavyweight nations at the event, with Lulu Sun once again playing a key role.

The tie started off with Renee Zhang making her Billie Jean King Cup debut, and she would have gained experience in her 6-1 6-0 loss to Park Shoyun.

In the second match, Lulu Sun had a tense opening set against Back Dayeon, but went on to win 6-4 6-1.

So just like in the tie against India the previous day, it came down to the doubles, with Sun once again teaming up with Monique Barry.

It was an epic match against Lee Eunhye and Kim Dabin. They won the first set 6-3, but lost the second 6-4.

In the third set super tiebreak they were down 7-4 and close to losing. But they then won five points in a row and soon after, on match point Barry put away a volley at the net, following a serve out wide from Sun.

After two rounds, New Zealand are the only team still unbeaten in the six-nation tournament, with the top two teams advancing from it, to play in the World Group playoffs in November.

New Zealand’s next tie is against Chinese Taipei on Thursday. On Wednesday, Chinese Taipei lost 2-1 to Hong Kong.