China were on level with hosts Belgium Saturday after both teams took one singles match apiece on the first day of a tennis Fed Cup World Group playoff match.

Playing on red clay in the Knokke Zoute Tennisclub, Knokke Heist, China's Athens Olympic doubles Champion Sun Tiantian gave China a perfect start after beating Belgium's No. 2, Debbrich Feys, who was making her debut for Belgium.

Sun, ranked 124 the highest among the players at the weekend, easily outplayed Feys, winning the match 6-4, 6-2.

But in the second singles match, China's doubles specialist YanZi was beaten by Belgian No. 1 Yanina Wickmayer in a close encounter, with Wickmayer prevailing 7-5, 7-6 (7).

Yan had her chances of leveling the match when she was 5-4 ahead and serving for the second set. However, she failed to hold her serve with a double fault at the end, and let her opponent back in the set.

Wickmayer gained a mini-break early in the tiebreaker. Although Yan broke back to level the score at 7-7, Wickmayer broke again, and held her nerves to serve out the match.

On Sunday, both teams will play two singles matches to be followed by a doubles match.

The winner of the tie will stay at the World Group, and the loser will be dropped to World Group II.

Both teams are without their best players, and could only field relatively inexperienced squads. China is without its first three singles players -- Li Na, Zheng Jie and Peng Shuai, while Belgium's world No. 1 Justine Henin also skipped the event.
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2007)