Serena Williams saw her Fed Cup singles winning streak ended but the United States battled past Latvia to book their spot in April’s Finals.

Williams, 38, was unbeaten in 14 matches but was defeated 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 7-6 (7-4) by Anastasija Sevastova.

That took the qualifying tie, which the US had led 2-0, to a decider after Jelena Ostapenko had beaten Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-3 2-6 6-2.

Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the deciding doubles rubber 6-4 6-0.

The US will be joined in April’s inaugural 12-nation Finals in Budapest by Spain, Russia, Germany, Belarus, Switzerland, Belgium, and Slovakia, in addition to Australia, France, Czech Republic and hosts Hungary.

• Spain earn Fed Cup Finals place
• GB fail to qualify for Fed Cup Finals
• GB hope to persuade Konta to return after Fed Cup defeat

After the United States’ dominant first day of the tie in Everett, Washington, 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko spearheaded Latvia’s comeback, winning the first three games of the first set to take the early control.

Kenin, the 21-year-old who beat Garbine Muguruza to win the Australian Open earlier this month, broke Ostapenko’s serve on three occasions in the second set to take the rubber to a decider, which itself saw six breaks of serve as the Latvian eased to the win.

Williams, who had been taken to two tie-breaks against Ostapenko the previous night, lost her first four service games and hit 30 unforced errors in the first set against Sevastova, who despite the American’s battle back to a tie-break, clung on to take the opener.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion was more dominant in the second set, allowing Sevastova to hold just one service game, but lost the decider in another tough tie-break.

But despite Latvia’s resolute performance, Kenin and Mattek-Sands proved too much for Ostapenjo and Sevastova in the doubles rubber, the US pair easing to victory in one hour 15 minutes.

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Great Britain hope to persuade top-ranked Johanna Konta to play in the next Fed Cup tie after she missed their qualifying defeat by Slovakia.

Great Britain lost 3-1 in Bratislava and failed to qualify for April’s inaugural Fed Cup Finals. Instead, they face a play-off to avoid relegation.

Konta, ranked 14th in the world, opted to sit out the tie to reduce her workload and protect her body.

British captain Anne Keothavong said it had been a “blow” to be without Konta.

The team will now play a qualifying tie in April to get back to this stage in next year’s competition – and avoid relegation to the Europe/Africa zone that is notoriously difficult to get out of.

“Without her this week, we certainly felt it, but it would have been tough even if she had made herself available,” Keothavong told BBC Sport.

When asked how she could persuade Konta to return, the captain replied: “Read the Art of Persuasion?! Naturally there will be another conversation with Jo to see if she can be persuaded, but like I’ve said before, once she makes up her mind on something she tends to stick to it.

“Maybe I’ll remind her about her heroic performances last year, and what she did on the back of those wins – maybe that might help her change her mind.”

The British number one, who made her Fed Cup debut in 2013 and has won 18 of her 25 singles matches, was instrumental in April’s World Group II play-off victory over Kazakhstan.

She came from a set down against Zarina Diyas and Yulia Putintseva to help Great Britain end a 26-year wait for Fed Cup promotion.

Her performances in the competition appeared to be a catalyst for success in the clay-court season that followed as she reached finals in Morocco and Rome before a run to the semi-finals of the French Open.

Konta, 28, went out in the first round at the Australian Open last month, having only played one tournament since September’s US Open because of a knee injury.

In the absence of Konta and former British number two Katie Boulter, who is in the early stages of a return from a back stress fracture, the British team in Bratislava was led by Heather Watson and Harriet Dart.

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Great Britain failed to reach the inaugural Fed Cup Finals by losing their qualifying tie to Slovakia.

Harriet Dart’s 7-5 6-3 defeat by Anna Karolina Schmiedlova gave Slovakia an unassailable 3-1 lead in Bratislava.

Heather Watson had earlier kept Great Britain in the tie with a 6-0 7-5 win over Rebecca Sramkova.

Slovakia qualify for April’s 12-nation finals in Budapest, while GB will play a qualifying tie to get back to this same stage in next year’s competition.

Britain were without world number 14 Johanna Konta, who opted to sit out the Fed Cup this year to protect her body, and Katie Boulter.

They returned to the World Group for the first time since 1996 by beating Kazakhstan in a play-off last April, and were among eight seeded nations in the qualifiers.

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Dart pays for missed chances

Dart had been beaten by Slovak number one Viktoria Kuzmova in a gruelling three-setter on Friday but the 23-year-old Briton showed no sign of fatigue against Schmiedlova, pushing her hard in a tight first set.

But she sent a forehand long to hand Schmiedlova the first set before battling hard at the start of the second, where she carved out two break points on both of the Slovak’s opening two service games.

But in the end it was the failure to convert those chances – missing nine out of 10 break point chances in total – that cost Dart.

Schmiedlova, a former top-30 player who has slipped down the rankings to 199 through injury, showed her pedigree by saving three break points from 0-40 to hold for a 5-2 lead in the second set.

World number 141 Dart did force the Slovak to serve out the match, showing her fighting spirit by saving two match points with two scorching winners, but finally succumbed on the third match point when she sent a backhand long.

“I’m sad to not be able to get a win for the team,” said Dart, who was in tears in her chair at the end of the match.

“I’m proud of the way I was able to fight this weekend. I couldn’t have done anything more. I’m able to hold my head high and take positives from it all.”

The defeat for Dart means Great Britain now need to win a play-off tie in April to earn another chance to reach the finals in 2021, while a defeat would send them back to the Europe/Africa Zone.

Watson makes most of late change to give GB hope

With Great Britain trailing 2-0 overnight, Watson had kept the tie alive with a dominant victory over Rebecca Sramkova.

The British number two had been expecting to face Kuzmova, but the Slovak pulled out shortly beforehand through illness.

Watson said she only found out 55 minutes before the match that she was playing a different opponent.

“I was watching some Netflix to try and get my mind off tennis and relax,” she told BBC Sport. “I found out at five past three that I was playing her so I went straight on to YouTube to start doing my homework as I don’t really know much about her.”

Watson made the most of the late change, punishing world number 202 Sramkova from the off as she won the first six games to take the set in 26 minutes before the Slovak finally held serve in the opening game of the second set.

The 27-year-old Briton, who tightened up her game considerably since Friday’s error-strewn 6-2 6-3 loss to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, dealt well with the increased pressure in the second set as Sramkova found some form.

World number 74 Watson got a decisive break in the 10th game of the second set when Sramkova went long, with the Slovak then continuing to rack up her groundstroke errors to allow Watson to serve out the match with ease.

Carla Suarez Navarro completed Spain’s win over Japan to secure the five-time champions’ place in the Fed Cup finals.

Suarez Navarro, who will retire this year, beat Kurumi Nara 6-1 6-3.

On Friday, the 31-year-old defeated Misaki Doi in straight sets after Sara Sorribes Tormo had stunned former world number one Naomi Osaka.

Earlier, Serena Williams beat Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets to give the United States a 2-0 lead in their qualifier against Latvia.

After Suarez Navarro’s victory, Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara won the concluding doubles rubber in Cartagena, Murcia, beating Lara Arruabarrena and Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov 6-2 6-3.

Spain, who last won the title in 1998, join the already-qualified Australia, France, Czech Republic and Hungary as one of the 12 nations set to play in April’s new-look Fed Cup Finals in Budapest.

“We wanted to be in Budapest so much and we are there, so I’m so happy,” said Suarez Navarro.

“It’s going to be a really good event with all the best players there. Spain have a really good team and we believe we can be strong in Budapest in two months or so.”

Williams puts US in control

In Everett, Washington, 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams defeated 2017 French Open winner Ostapenko 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3) overnight to put the US in a dominant position in their qualifying tie.

That came after newly crowned Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin beat Anastasija Sevastova 6-2 6-2 in the first rubber.

“It’s been a long journey. It wasn’t easy,” said world number seven Kenin.

“But I was super happy to come here and play with the team.”

Williams added: “I’m really proud of being able to get the win for the team. I’m really excited that I was able to go through it.”

The qualifier continues from 23:30 GMT with Kenin taking on Ostapenko in the third rubber.

• Great Britain trail Slovakia 2-0 in qualifier as Watson & Dart beaten
• Williams ‘maybe needs a new coaching strategy’
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