Venus Williams returned from a five-month layoff, and Serena Williams and Christina McHale won singles matches Sunday, sending the United States past Belarus 5-0 in the first round of the Fed Cup.
By blanking Belarus in World Group II, the Americans will head to a playoff in April in hopes of playing their way back into the top tier of Fed Cup after getting bounced last year.
Venus Williams and Liezel Huber completed the shutout with a doubles victory, defeating Darya Kustova and Anastasiya Yakimova 6-1, 6-2. It was Williams' first sanctioned match since the first round of the U.S. Open after a diagnosis of Sjogren's Syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue and joint pain.
"It felt great," Venus Williams said. "It was everything I expected. I'm really glad the team got to the 4-love lead."
McHale won in straight sets for the second consecutive day, beating Darya Kustova 6-0, 6-1 to put the U.S. up 4-0.
Serena Williams had guaranteed a U.S. victory earlier in the day by defeating Anastasiya Yakimova 5-7, 6-1, 6-1. Williams blew a 4-1 lead in the first set and slammed her racket on the court after one point, then returned to form in the next two sets.
She didn't allow a point in two straight games of the final set, and she closed with an overhead slam.
"That just goes to show you how frustrated I was out there today," Serena Williams said. "I haven't done that in a match in a long time."
Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, the Australian Open champion, sat out all four singles matches with a back injury.
Venus Williams' victory almost overshadowed the team victory, which the U.S. players celebrated with a quick parade around the court with the American flag.
In the first round of World Group play, Russia defeated Spain 3-2; Serbia defeated Belgium 3-2; Italy defeated Ukraine 3-2; and the Czech Republic defeated Germany 4-1.
Although a U.S. victory was assured after the first singles, most of the 2,279 fans at Worcester's DCU Center stayed through another round of singles to see Venus Williams play.
Williams served first and after hitting her first attempt long, she delivered a winner on her second to start her comeback with a 15-0 lead.
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