Bharath Ramaraj in Bengaluru
Slovenia have taken one step closer to navigating a way through the Billie Jean King playoffs in Bengaluru after beating the fancied Netherlands 2-1 in the opening round of the three-country tussle.
There was a time when Tamara Zidansek’s whip forehand was the talk of the town. That forehand also propelled the Slovenian to a French Open semifinal in 2021, and she was ranked as high as 22 in February 2022. Unfortunately, that year, she was down with Covid-19 and it took a long time for her to recover. When she returned to the tennis court, it took longer for Zidansek to find her groove.
Currently ranked 162 in the world, she told RevSportz on the sidelines that her forehand “is still not at that level and I am working on it”. But those rasping cross-court forehands proved to be formidable enough to get the better of Netherlands’ Arantxa Rus and give her country a 1-0 lead. On a hard-court, the left-hander’s topspin wasn’t enough to pose a threat to Zidansek. Zidansek also got acclimatised to the conditions quite well, with the ball bouncing high. The way she employed the forehand as an offensive and defensive weapon and then closed it with clean volleys encapsulated that.
Although Rus made a comeback in the second set, she eventually lost 1-6, 6-7. Zidansek closed it out with a down-the-line forehand winner. Under pressure, Suzan Lamens then crashed out to Kaja Juvan – 7-6, 4-6, 6-3. In the first set, at one point, Juvan was down 2-5. But she overturned the deficit with some crisply cracked forehands. In the subsequent tie-break, a couple of down-the-line backhand winners were enough for Juvan to close out the set, while Lamens struggled a touch with her second serve. Even though the match went into a decider, it was Juvan who came out on top.
Dalia Jakupovic and Nika Radisic then lost to Suzan Lamens and Demi Schuurs 4-6, 0-6 to bring a few cheers to the Netherlands camp. So, what does this result mean for India, the host nation and the third team in the group? If Slovenia take down India on November 15 (Saturday), then the last match between the Netherlands and India would be basically a dead rubber. However, with the home crowd for support, Ankita Raina, Sahaja Yamalapalli, Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty and Prarthana Thombare will be eying an upset or two.
In the recent past, Bhamidipaty has beaten higher opponents like Nao Hibino, Justina Mikulskyte and Irina Maria Bara. The tall Shrivalli, who idolises a certain Maria Sharapova, will be hoping to bring the five-time Grand Slam champion’s tenacity to the court. She also has a major weapon – the serve. Shrivalli hit a whopping 38 aces in the 2025 Asia-Oceania Qualifiers, winning all her five matches. Recently, in the Chennai Open, she cracked as many as 12 aces against Kimberly Birrell. But she also ended up with 9 double faults to her name and lost the match.
Yamalapalli, the 344th-ranked singles player, has defeated Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Champion, this year. Even though Stephens is nowhere near her peak in 2025, it was still a creditable victory. On the other hand, Raina and Thombare have enough experience as a doubles pair.
Raina, who has played a record 50 Fed Cup ties, said to RevSportz: “You know we both have played in the Asian Games and represented India in the past years. The thing with Prarthana is she is very unpredictable at the net, that is her plus point. I think the combination of her game and my game works well together.”
Logic says Slovenia are more or less certain to complete the formalities today and progress to the Billie Jean King Cup main draw. But a determined Indian team would be looking to upset the applecart.
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