U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens lost in three sets to Aryna Sabalenka as host Belarus and the United States ended the opening day of the Fed Cup final at 1-1.
Sabalenka won 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 on Saturday after CoCo Vandeweghe had beaten Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4, 6-4 to give 17-time champion United States a 1-0 lead with the Americans looking to break a 17-year championship drought.
Sabalenka won on a fourth match point when Stephens netted a forehand. A wild second set saw six straight breaks of serve before Sabalenka held in the seventh game.
Stephens has yet to win any of the five matches she’s played since winning the U.S. Open.
Earlier, Vandeweghe faced a boisterous crowd at the indoor hard court in Minsk.
The results: Belarus 1, USA 1 (Aliaksandra Sasnovich lost to CoCo Vandeweghe 6-4, 6-4; Aryna Sabalenka bt Sloane Stephens 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.