DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) -Wobbly in the wind and trailing in the first set, Venus Williams was glad to have her younger sister standing by.
"Down that first set, it's comforting to know if anything goes wrong, Serena Williams is going to play the second match," Venus said.
Venus rallied to win, and Serena completed a sibling sweep Saturday, leaving the U.S. Fed Cup team on the verge of beating Belgium.
Playing Fed Cup for the first time since 2003, Serena beat Caroline Maes 6-1, 6-4 to give the Americans a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five opening-round match.
Venus struggled early with gusty conditions and fell behind 5-3 before winning 11 consecutive points, then beat Kirsten Flipkens 7-5, 6-2.
"With Venus on our team, we're guaranteed two wins," Serena said. "So if I can just win one match, we pretty much have it in our pockets."
Singles matchups will be reversed Sunday, followed by doubles, and Serena can clinch a U.S. victory by beating Flipkens. The winning team will face the Russia-Spain winner in the semifinals following Wimbledon in July.
Russia led Spain 2-0 in Moscow. France and Italy, both playing at home, also took 2-0 leads.
The Americans were heavily favored due to the absence of Belgium's top players, top-ranked Justine Henin and No. 4 Kim Clijsters, who declined to take part. The Williams sisters often skip Fed Cup themselves, but they agreed to play this weekend in part because Delray Beach is only a half-hour drive from their home in Palm Beach Gardens.
Friends, family and designers from Venus' fashion business were part of the crowd of 3,415, and the sisters gave them plenty to cheer about.
"It was really windy, and balls are bouncing funny," Serena said. "But America is up 2-0, and we hope to improve it Sunday."
Serena took a 5-0 lead after only 17 minutes, and when Maes held for 5-1, the Belgian grinned at the achievement. Serena never faced a break point, slammed backhand winners into both corners and moved well, showing no signs of the groin injury that forced her to retire from a match last week at Charleston, S.C.
She wore tape on her right thigh as a precaution.
