Williams sisters lead USA to victory

The mighty Williams sisters powered the United States through their first-round Fed Cup match against the Czech Republic.

Serena and Venus both won their singles matches convincingly before teaming up for a destruction job on the Czech doubles pair.

They led 2-0 overnight after easy wins on Saturday and world number one Serena booked the Americans their place in July’s quarter-finals, where they will face Italy, by crushing Klara Koukalova 6-2 6-2.

Venus, who has fallen to number three in the WTA rankings, made it 4-0 by emphatically defeating Ivete Benesova 6-3 6-2, before the siblings combined to hammer Daja Bedanova and Eva Birnerova 6-1 6-1 in the final match of the tie.

The team most likely to challenge the US for the title this year is Belgium, who boast the second and fourth best players in the world, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne.

The Belgians delighted their home crowd in Bree by white-washing Australia 5-0, with Clijsters defeating Patricia Wartusch 6-2 6-2 to secure qualification.

Els Callens replaced the resting Henin-Hardenne for the fourth match and beat Evelyn Fauth 7-6 6-2, before teaming up with Clijsters to outmanoeuvre Yvonne Meusburger and Sybille Bammer in the doubles, winning 6-2 6-2.