Tennis Atlantic

Venus to the Rescue as US Sails by Sweden in Fed Cup

For as much as Venus Williams has accomplished, the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist achieved a first on Sunday.

Williams, ranked No. 22 in the world, defeated No. 66 Johanna Larsson of Sweden, 6-3, 7-5, to clinch the United States’ Fed Cup World Group Playoff victory over Sweden at the Delray Beach Tennis Center in Delray Beach, Fla. It is the first time Williams – who has played in nine U.S. Fed Cup ties and won a Fed Cup championship in 1999 – has clinched a tie for the U.S.

Substituted in for Sloane Stephens by U.S. Captain Mary Joe Fernandez, Williams, after eight match points, clinched the tie in the fourth and final singles match. The U.S. won the tie, 3-2, after Sweden recorded a walkover victory in the doubles match.

In Sunday’s first singles rubber, a meeting of each team’s No. 1 players, world No. 1 Serena Williams defeated No. 54 Sofia Arvidsson, 6-2, 6-1, to give the U.S. a 2-1 advantage. Serena’s 57-minute triumph brought her total match time in two singles victories this weekend to 2 hours, 3 minutes between Saturday and Sunday. The U.S. is 6-0 when Serena plays.

Overall, Serena is 10-0 in Fed Cup singles play, while Venus is 15-3. This was the fifth Fed Cup tie in which the Williams sisters have played together and only the third Fed Cup tie in which they have both played singles

The U.S. now improves to 4-1 against Sweden, 4-0 in ties played in Florida and 3-0 in ties played at the Delray Beach Tennis Center. Fifth-year U.S. Captain Mary Joe Fernandez improved her record to 7-5.

WORLD GROUP SEMIFINALS

Italy leads the Czech Republic, 2-1 (rain delay)
Russia defeated the Slovak Republic, 3-2

WORLD GROUP PLAYOFFS

USA defeated Sweden, 3-2
Germany defeated Serbia, 3-2
Switzerland and Australia are 0-0 (rain delay)
Spain defeated Japan, 4-0

WORLD GROUP II PLAYOFFS

Poland defeated Belgium, 4-1
Canada defeated Ukraine, 3-2
France defeated Kazakhstan, 4-1
Argentina defeated Great Britain, 3-1

—Pat Mitsch, USTA