Jelena Dokic continued her spectacular comeback Wednesday, leading Australia to a comprehensive 3-0 win over South Korea in their opening Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Group I clash. The former world number four said she was nervous ahead of her first appearance for Australia in the women's team event since 2000 but cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Lee Jin-A, ranked a lowly 305 in the world.
World number 43 Samantha Stosur then wrapped up the Group A tie for the host nation with a 6-2, 6-4 win over the 226th-ranked Lee Ye-Ra. Casey Dellacqua and Rennae Stubbs completed a clean sweep with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Chang Kyung-Mi and Lee Jin-A in the doubles.
The 25-year-old Dokic, who emerged from years in the tennis wilderness with a remarkable run to the Australian Open quarter-finals last month, said she had plenty in reserve after beating an opponent whom she admitted she did not even know was left-handed before the match. In front of just a few hundred fans, a far cry from the packed crowds in Melbourne, Dokic's only hiccup came when she served for the match at 5-1 in the second set and was broken by Lee.
"There were a lot of feelings going into this match," said Dokic, who has climbed to 91 in the rankings following her run at the Australian Open. "I was little bit nervous going out there, especially after playing so well in the Australian Open," Dokic said, admitting she had been feeling off-colour since her charge to the last eight of the season-opening Grand Slam.
"But I think I did OK. I didn't push too much and did just what I needed to do. If it was needed, I could have stepped it up more." Dokic's last Fed Cup appearance was for Serbia and Montenegro in 2004. Also in Group B, Thailand were off to the perfect start with a 3-0 win over Taiwan. Tamarine Tanasugarn, the highest-ranked singles player here, at 41, beat Chan Chin-Wei 6-2, 6-0 to seal the tie after Suchanun Viratprasert beat Hwang I-Hsuan in the opening singles 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.
In Group A, India, without injured star Sania Mirza, slumped to a 3-0 loss to New Zealand. In the other Group A match, Indonesia upset Uzbekistan 2-1. The Indonesian pairing of Sandy Gumulya and Ayu Fani Damayanti clinched the tie with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) win over Akgul Amanmuradova and Albina Khabibulina in the deciding doubles.
The round-robin group ties continue until Friday, with the top side from each group meeting in Saturday's final. The winner advances to the World Group II play-offs in April. In Asia/Oceania Group II, Hong Kong beat Iran 3-0, while Kazakhstan swept Singapore 3-0.