KEAUHOU — The United States didn’t need much time to blow by Poland at the Fed Cup on Sunday.
In kite-flying conditions, Venus Williams defeated Magda Linette 6-1, 6-2 in an hour at Holua Tennis Center to clinch a victory for the United States in the World Group II best-of-five match series.
The win advances the U.S. to the World Group Playoff in April. A win would put the U.S. in contention for the Fed Cup title next year. The draw for the playoffs is Tuesday.
“The goal was to get a win any which way we could. I think it’s great we were able to win all matches,” U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez said. “We mentioned this at the beginning of the week: team competition is different. The pressures are different. The expectations are different.
“Now we’re one step closer to getting back into the World Group next year. This was very important. Now we go on in April to play our next one, try to get three wins again to compete for the Fed Cup title next year.”
The players faced nearly cloudless, sunny weather on Day 1 of the tournament, but Sunday’s match became a battle against the wind. Both players had issues with the gusts on their serves.
“Just had to be a little more patient, get ready for the ball to do anything,” Williams said. “But I was happy to be able to still get through the court and be able to dictate, which is what I like to do.”
From start to finish, there was very little Williams did not dictate. Linette had a hard time dealing with the powerful right-hander’s serve, and even with a bandage on her upper left leg, Williams had no problem covering the court.
“I always want to get out there and win fast, but it doesn’t always happen that way,” Williams said with a laugh. “But I guess when I had a short ball, I came in. Just wanted to be able to get in to the net. When I get my racquet on a volley, usually I’m able to do a lot with it.”
Williams credited her teammate Sloane Stephens for providing some insight on her Polish opponent. Stephens defeated Linette 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday.
“I think I had a little bit of an advantage because Sloane had a chance to play against Magda, so I had a nice scouting report,” Williams said. “I was able to really get started quickly. I think she did a little of the work beforehand. I had the heads-up.”
Williams locked up the win for the U.S., but CoCo Vandeweghe and Bethanie Mattek-Sands provided an encore for the crowd, defeating Poland’s Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Paula Kania 6-1, 7-5 in the dead doubles rubber. The win gave the U.S. a clean 4-0 sweep. Kania substituted for Alicja Rosolska, who was originally slated to play.
It was Vandeweghe and Mattek-Sands’ premier as partners. Vandeweghe had beat Mattek-Sands in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Australian Open mixed doubles tournament last month.
“We just played our game. We kept playing aggressive, closing the net. That’s how we won the first set,” Mattek-Sands said. “We’re prepared for our opponents to step up and play better. Maybe have a little less pressure on them in the second and go for a few shots. I think it’s business as usual. We had our game plan and we stuck to it.”
Vandeweghe is now 2-0 in Fed Cup doubles play, also playing in a dead doubles rubber last year with Taylor Townsend in the World Group II First Round in Argentina, while Mattek-Sands is 4-0 in doubles, last playing Fed Cup doubles in the 2010 World Group Semifinal against Russia. Jans-Ignacik falls to 20-10 in Fed Cup doubles play, while Kania is 1-2.
