MINSK, Belarus — A seventeen-year championship drought came to an end Sunday for the United States when it beat Belarus 3-2 to take its 18th Fed Cup title.
CoCo Vandeweghe and Shelby Rogers defeated Aryna Sabalenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the deciding doubles of the 2017 final. It was the first Fed Cup title for the U.S. since 2000.
“It feels perfectly believable and unbelievable,” Vandeweghe said. “I’m ready for a vacation.”
The Belarus pair led 5-2 in the second set and served to level at one-set apiece in the eighth, 10th and 12th games. The Americans dominated the tiebreaker, winning five of the last six points.
Sasnovich had kept Belarus alive after beating U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens 4-6, 6-1, 8-6 to leave the final level at 2-2 on the indoor hard-court Chizhovka Arena.
Vandeweghe earlier beat Sabalenka 7-6 (5), 6-1 to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead.
The U.S. holds the most Fed Cup titles in the international team competition. This was its fourth Fed Cup final since last winning in 2000. It lost the 2003, 2009 and 2010 finals.
Belarus was making its first appearance in a Fed Cup final.
Vandeweghe proved the difference between the two teams. She has won all eight Fed Cup matches she’s played this season — six singles and two doubles. Vandeweghe is the first player to win eight matches since the current eight-team World Group format was introduced in 2005.