Venus and Serena Williams chat during the United States 3-1 Fed Cup win over the Netherlands today ©Getty Images

Venus Williams earned the United States victory in their Fed Cup World Group first round tie against the Netherlands as her 7-5, 6-1 win over Richel Hogenkamp gave the defending champions an unassailable 3-0 lead on a day when Serena Williams made her long-awaited return to top flight competition.

It was the 37-year-old’s 21st Fed Cup singles victory.

Her younger sister made her first official tournament return since giving birth to a daughter on September 1 in the final dead rubber doubles of the tie at the US Cellular Arena. 

But she was unable to make it a winning return as she and Lauren Davis were beaten 6-2, 6-3 by Lesley Kerkove and Demi Schuurs on the hard court at Asheville in North Carolina.

The main drama of the four World Group ties took place elsewhere, however, as France beat Belgium 3-2 after an epic final rubber and Germany edged past last year’s finalists Belarus by the same scoreline.

A second singles win for double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová ensured the Czech Republic took an unassailable 3-0 lead in their tie against Switzerland at the O2 Arena in Prague. 

Two-times champions Germany reached their first semi-final since 2015 after Tatjana Maria and Anna-Lena Groenefeld had beaten the Belarus pair of Aryna Sabalenka and Lidziya Marozava 6-7, 7-5, 6-4 in the fifth and deciding match at the Chizhovka Arena in Minsk.

Germany's Antonia Lottner returns to Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka during the Fed Cup tennis world group first round match between Belarus and Germany in Minsk today ©Getty Images
Germany's Antonia Lottner returns to Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka during the Fed Cup tennis world group first round match between Belarus and Germany in Minsk today ©Getty Images

"I can hardly speak - it was such an intense weekend," said the German captain Jens Gerlach.

"The girls just did a great, great job."

The France versus Belgium match at the Vendéspace in La Roche-sur-Yonalso went to the concluding doubles, in which Amandine Hesse and Kristina Mladenovic beat Kirsten Flipkens and Elise Mertens 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

The Fed Cup semi-finals, due to take place on April 21 and 22, will see France hosting the United States and Germany at home to the Czech Republic.

The next focus will be on the draw on Tuesday (February 13) for the World Group and World Group II play-offs.

Italy, Slovakia, Australia and Romania, the four winners in World Group II, have qualified for the World Group play-offs on April 21-22, when they will be joined by the four World Group first round losers – Belarus, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland

Britain, Japan, Latvia and Paraguay, who all qualified from their respective Zone Group 1 yesterday, will contest the World Group II play-offs on April 21 and 22, when they will be joined by the four World Group II losers, Canada, Russia, Spain and Ukraine.