Tennis: New Zealand crush Bangladesh 3-0 in opening Fed Cup tie

The New Zealand Fed Cup team has swept Bangladesh 3-0 in a dominant start to the Asia Oceania Group 2 tournament in Kuala Lumpur.

Emily Fanning kicked things off with a 6-0 6-0 victory over Jarin Sultana Jolly. Kiwi number one Paige Hourigan then defeated her Bangladeshi counterpart Eshita Afrose by the same score. Hourigan then teamed up with Erin Routliffe to win the doubles 6- 0 6-1 against Mashfia Afrrin and Susmita Sen.

It's a full strength New Zealand squad with national champion Valentina Ivanov sitting out the opening day in Kuala Lumpur. Ivanov is likely to feature against Pakistan tomorrow.

Captain Sacha Hughes says they were clinical today.

"A great first day for NZ. They were very solid matches across the board. The girls have acclimatised very well and both Paige and Emily competed well with great focus," Hughes said.

New Zealand will now face Pakistan tomorrow.

"The rest of the day is now about getting ready for our match tomorrow. The conditions are very hot and humid."

The top two teams in each pool advance to Saturday's final with the winner promoted to Asia Oceania Group 1 for 2020.

New Zealand are favourites to win its group with Uzbekistan favoured to advance from the other group which includes Malaysia and Turkmenistan.