India, April 11 -- On the few occasions Vaidehi Chaudhari gets to travel home every year, she is given strict instructions: she cannot be seen wearing her tennis clothes outside the house. The irony is that almost everyone in her hometown of Mehsana - around 75 km north of Ahmedabad - has been tuning in to watch her compete for India at the Billie Jean King Cup in Pune.

On Friday, Chaudhari was given the task of opening the tie for the hosts as they took on Chinese Taipei in the Asia/Oceania Group 1 encounter. She had to grind it out, but after two hours and nine minutes, she ensured the opening point for India with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win over Fang An Lin.

The win came a day after she put India in the lead in the tie against Hong Kong - he...