The American team, chasing a 19th Fed Cup crown, overcame France 3-1 at the Arena du Pays d’Aix in Aix-en-Provence.

They will face the Czech Republic in the final after they recorded a comfortable 4-1 win over Germany at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart.

The tie between the US and France was locked at 1-1 going into today after the opening set of singles rubbers.

Sloane Stephens, the US Open champion, moved her team to within one victory of a place in the final when she thrashed French opponent Kristina Mladenovic 6-2, 6-0.

Madison Keys, who did not play a singles match yesterday, came in as a replacement for CoCo Vandeweghe and it proved the right decision as she dispatched Pauline Parmentier 7-6, 6-4 to send her side through to the tournament's showpiece encounter.

"I had to conquer my Fed Cup losing streak here and get another good win," Stephens said.

"You never anticipate a scoreline like the way it turned out but it was really solid. 

"I was playing well and took advantage of that, making sure I took my opportunities when I got them."

Germany were up against it at 2-0 going into the reverse singles rubbers today but pulled one back when Julia Görges swept aside Karolína Plíšková 6-3, 6-2.

Petra Kvitová had no such trouble in her match with Angelique Kerber as she produced a superb display to record a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win and ensure the Czech team got the opportunity to compete for Fed Cup glory later this year.

The Czech Republic will host the final from November 10 to 11 having won five of the past seven Fed Cup titles.