The 37-year-old seven-times Grand Slam singles champion, whose sister Serena is due to make her return in tomorrow’s competition at the US Cellular Arena in Asheville in North Carolina, earned a 6-1, 6-4 win over Arantxa Rus, and team-mate CoCo Vandeweghe put the US team 2-0 up overnight with a scrappy 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 win over Richel Hogenkamp.

Williams now joins Billie Jean King, Chris Evert and Lindsay Davenport as the only American women to have won 20 or more Federation Cup singles matches.

"I felt proud," Williams said.

"You don’t want to let this crowd down, you don’t want to let your country down."

Venus is due to meet Hogenkamp in the first of tomorrow’s singles matches and Vanderweghe takes on Rus before the final doubles in which Serena - in her first tournament since giving birth to a daughter by Caesarian section on September 1 last year - is paired with Lauren Davis against Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs.

One more win tomorrow will ensure the US progress to the semi-finals in April.

In the other three World Group matches being played this weekend, last year’s beaten finalists Belarus stand at 1-1 with Germany, and France and Belgium are also at 1-1.

The Czech Republic are 2-0 ahead against Switzerland.

Aryna Sabalenka put Belarus 1-0 with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Tatjana Maria, but Antonia Lottner levelled the tie with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová got the Czech Republic off to a winning start by beating Viktorija Golubic 6-2. 1-6, 6-3, and team-mate Barbora Strýcová doubled the advantage with a 6-2, 6-4 result against Belinda Bencic.

Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Pauline Parmentier 6-2, 6-1 in La Roche Sur Yon, but France levelled through Kristina Mladenovic, who defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 6-4.