Silvia sidelines Seles, gives Italy equaliser

But Italian number one Farina rose to the occasion in the second singles rubber here to grind out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Seles, who appeared afterwards with an ice pack on her left wrist.

Seles, the current world number five, also had to cope with blisters during the performance, although team captain Billie Jean King insisted that her number two was in condition to play.

The Americans will be hoping that Seles is well enough to make amends in her next match against Grande this evening.

Farina, meanwhile, played her best tennis, mixing up her game to prevent Seles from settling and using frequent drop shots.

“In the Fed Cup, I always feel that there’sa special atmosphere,” said the Italian. “I’ve been playing in it for six years now and I’m fully concentrated when I walk out.”

But she admitted: “The crowd helped me a lot. In times like this, they are always very important.”

Williams, the world number four, used the sheer power and precision of her groundstrokes to devastating effect, accelerating into a 5-1 lead before squandering two set points on her own serve.

It was only a momentary setback, though, with the American breaking back immediately to wrap up the set in 32 minutes.

Grande, ranked 63rd in the world, put up more of a fight in the second set. But the gulf in quality was just too great for the Italian to bridge and another 39 minutes were all Williams needed.

The American, who nailed her fourth match point with a passing shot down the line, admitted that defeat was never an option.

But she added: “I never start a match thinking that I might lose. If it happened, it would mean I still had a lot to learn.”

By contrast, Grandewas seething at her performance.

“I served really badly,” she said. “And I am very angry about that. I played the whole set without being able to keep the ball in, and that’s an advantage you can never hand over to the world’s number four.”