Tennis aces Serena Williams and Sofia Kenin picked up straight set victories to put the USA 2-0 up against Latvia at the Fed Cup qualifier. 

Williams, the 23-Grand-Slam champion, beat 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3) in Washington. 

She now holds an undefeated 14-0 record in Fed Cup singles matches. 

Williams said: "I'm really proud of being able to get the win for the team. I'm really excited that I was able to go through it.

"I’ve played in front of so many crowds but I don’t think I’ve ever played in front of a crowd this loud."

Before Williams sealed victory, the newly-crowned Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin won 6-2 6-2 against Anastasija Sevastova in just over an hour. 

Afterwards the World No 7 said: "I’m still a bit jet-lagged but I knew I needed to play my best to win.

"I knew I was going to be tired but I couldn’t say no to Fed Cup. It's been a long journey. It wasn't easy. But I was super happy to come here and play with the team."

Williams will face Sevastova while Kenin will take on Ostapenko in reverse singles this afternoon. 

The winner of the best-of-five tie will join 11 other nations in the finals in Budapest in April.