US blank Spain for record 17th Fed Cup title

US blank Spain for record 17th Fed Cup title
Agence France Presse

Las Vegas, November 26: No Venus. No Serena. No problem. Even without the Williams sisters and with second-ranked Lindsay Davenport nursing a sore right calf, the defending champion United States completed a 5-0 sweep of Spain here to win a record 17th Fed Cup women's tennis title.

Australian Open champion Davenport defeated fifth-ranked Conchita Martinez 6-2, 6-1, in a matchup of injured stars to clinch the best-of-five final after she and No. 4 Monica Seles had won on Friday.

``Especially without the Williamses, we were unsure a couple weeks ago,'' said Davenport. ``It made it a little harder without them so to win like that was nice.''

US Open and Wimbledon winner Venus Williams, whose 35-match win streak was halted by Davenport last month, and sister Serena, who joined Venus for Olympic doubles gold, played in last year's final, a 4-1 victory over Russia.

Both cited injuries but US captain Billie Jean King was preparing players to do without them in early October. Seles and Davenport dominated anyway and the US won a third Cup in five years.