By Chris Oddo | Sunday, April 19, 2015

 

Serena Williams kept her winning streak alive but the Americans fell to Italy in Brindisi nonetheless.

Photo: Fed Cup

It wasn’t easy, but Serena Williams swept through her singles matches this weekend during Fed Cup action in Brindisi, Italy. The 19-time major champion improved 20-0 on the season with wins over Camila Giorgi and Sara Errani, but Williams couldn’t keep the Americans from falling to Italy, as she and Alison Riske were dropped by Errani in Flavia Pennetta in the deciding doubles rubber, 6-0, 6-3.

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The loss ends Williams’ perfect 16-0 record in Fed Cup play and leaves the Americans out of the World Group for a second consecutive year.

Italy will return to the World Group after defeating the Americans for the 5th consecutive time.

Despite pushing her singles winning streak to 23 matches, Williams was very disappointed with her form on the clay. She was two points from falling to Errani, trailing 5-4, 30-15 with the Italian serving in the second set, but rallied to victory on Sunday. On Saturday she struggled to get past the explosive Giorgi.

“Today has been a big eye opener,” Williams said after her singles match, according to FedCup.com. “I need to go home and really train. I am otally not ready for the clay-court season as I thought I was. I’m playing like I’m on hard court and I’m not. I have to play and be ready to hit 1,000 shots if necessary.”

After Williams gave the Americans a 2-1 lead, Pennetta demolished Christina McHale, 6-1, 6-1, to set up the doubles decider.

Errani and Pennetta, both former No. 1 doubles players, relied on their chemistry and used the passion of their home crowd to take charge of the American pairing. They were never threatened.

“We beat the United States with Serena Williams, and Serena played all three matches,” said Italian Captain Corrado Barrazzutti. “We’re happy for this victory.”

“We knew it was going to be a big challenge,” said American Captain Mary Joe Fernandez. “They’re so experienced playing doubles on this surface.”

Other teams to make their way back to the World Group this weekend were Romania, which upset Canada in Montreal, Switzerland, which overcame Poland and the Netherlands, who defeated Australia, 4-1.