New Zealand remain unbeaten in Billie Jean King Cup

New Zealand have made it three from three at the Billie Jean King Cup tournament in Pune, India.

On Thursday they defeated Chinese Taipei 2-1 to remain top of Asia/Oceania World Group I and edge closer to a spot in the World Group Playoffs in November.

Against Chinese Taipei, the New Zealand captain, Matt Hair chose to mix up his selection, going with Monique Barry in the opening singles match, rather than saving her for the doubles.

Barry battled through a marathon three-hour, 12-minute match against Lin Fang An, but managed to come through it with a 5-7 7-6(5) 7-6(2) victory.

Lulu Sun was also pushed to three sets in the next match, but was able to remain unbeaten this week, with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Joanna Garland. 

Sun trailed 3-1 in the second set, but fought her way out of that tricky position as she went on to win the next five games, to send the match into a deciding set.

That result gave New Zealand an unassailable lead in the tie and Hair was able to give two of his younger players some Billie Jean King Cup experience in the doubles, with Aishi Das and Sasha Situe losing 6-0 6-1 to Cho Yi Tsen and Wu Fang-Hsien.

New Zealand play against Thailand on Friday and another victory will confirm a top-two finish in the six-nation tournament, which will be enough to advance to the World Group Playoffs.

Thailand have had wins over South Korea and Hong Kong so far this week, but lost 2-1 to India.

Thailand’s top player is Mananchaya Sawangkaew, who is ranked 110 in the world and like Sun, is unbeaten this week.

New Zealand's final match will be against Hong Kong on Saturday.