After leading 2-0 on Day One, Serena Williams opened play and clinched the tie with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, win over Anastasiya Yakimova. The opening set was the first set Serena Williams has lost in Fed Cup competition. Yakimova was substituted for world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who did not play both Saturday and Sunday due to a lower back injury. In the dead rubber singles match, American teenager Christina McHale won her second Fed Cup singles match of the weekend by defeating Darya Kustova 6-0, 6-1, in just 53 minutes. In doubles, Venus Williams and Liezel Huber defeated Yakimova and Kustova 6-1, 6-2. This was Venus Williams’ first match since the 2011 US Open.
RESULTS
WHAT’S NEXT…
The U.S. advances to the World Group Playoff, held April 21-22. The World Group Playoff includes the four teams that lost in the World Group First Round (Spain, Belgium, Ukraine, and Germany) and the four teams that won in the World Group II First Round this weekend (United States, Japan, Slovak Republic, and Australia). The top four teams in the updated Fed Cup rankings will be seeded and will be drawn against the four remaining teams on February 14. The winners of the World Group Playoffs will advance to the World Group next year and contend for the 2013 Fed Cup title.
Currently ranked No. 4, the U.S. is expected to be seeded going in the World Group Playoff and is likely to face one of the following teams: Germany (at home), Japan (away), Australia and Slovak Republic (host nation determined by coin toss). If Germany jumps ahead of Ukraine in the Fed Cup rankings, then Germany is expected to be seeded and the U.S. could play Ukraine (host nation determined by coin toss).
FED CUP RESULTS
