WORCESTER, Mass. U.S. team blanks Belarus in Fed Cup

Venus Williams returned from a five-month layoff, and Serena Williams and Christina McHale won singles matches Sunday, sending the United States past Belarus 5-0 in the first round of the Fed Cup.

By blanking Belarus in World Group II, the Americans head to a playoff in April in hopes of playing their way back into the top tier of the Fed Cup after getting bounced last year.

Venus Williams and Liezel Huber completed the shutout with a doubles victory, defeating Darya Kustova and Anastasiya Yakimova 6-1, 6-2. This was Williams' first sanctioned match since the opening round of the U.S. Open. She had been diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue and joint pain and forced her to withdraw from the Open.

McHale won in straight sets for the second consecutive day, beating Darya Kustova 6-0, 6-1 to put the U.S. up 4-0.

Serena Williams had already guaranteed a U.S. victory earlier in the day by defeating Anastasiya Yakimova 5-7, 6-1, 6-1. Serena blew a 4-1 lead in the opening set and slammed her racket on the court after one point, then returned to form in the next two sets. She didn't allow a point in two straight games of the final set, which she closed with an overhead slam.

Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, the Australian Open champion, sat out all four singles matches with a back injury.

Colleges

Presbyterian player dies: Presbyterian football player Kyle L. Allen, 21, of St. Augustine, Fla., was pronounced dead at Laurens County (S.C.) Hospital after being found unconscious at about 5:30 a.m. Sunday and transported there. No cause of death has been determined.

Cycling

Boonen opens with win: Tom Boonen of Belgium won the opening stage of the Tour of Qatar in Doha, finishing four seconds ahead of Adam Blythe of Britain.

Boonen, a former world road racing champion, riding for Omega Pharma Quick-Step, completed the 88.5-mile first stage in 3 hours, 11 minutes, 22 seconds.

BMC Racing Team's Blythe was followed by Peter Sagan of Liquigas-Cannondale, six seconds back in third. Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Barracuda was fourth.

Nearing a verdict on his Tour de France doping case after a 17-month wait, Alberto Contador finished 98th in the Mallorca (Spain) Challenge.

The Spaniard was set to return to Madrid after the race. The Court of Arbitration for Sport will rule today on whether Contador will be banned after returning a positive drug test in winning the 2010 Tour.

Track and Field

Jones breaks hurdles record: Lolo Jones led an American sweep of the podium while breaking the 19-year record in the 60-meter hurdles at the Russian Winter indoor meet in Moscow. Jones clocked 7.89 seconds to shave .03 seconds off the mark set by Jeva Sokolova of Russia in 1993. She was followed by Ivette Lewis in 8.03 and Danielle Carruthers in 8.05.

Countryman Josh Norman timed 6.63 seconds to win the men's 60, 0.01 ahead of world indoor champion Dwain Chambers of Britain and 0.02 in front of Rytis Sakalauskas of Lithuania.