Serena Williams beat Lesia Tsurenko on Sunday to seal a 3-0 win for the United States over Ukraine and put the Americans back in the elite World Group of the Fed Cup.

The 13-time Grand Slam winner overpowered Tsurenko 6-3, 6-2 to give the United States an unassailable 3-0 lead that consigns Ukraine to the tournament’s second tier for 2013.

On the first day of matches Saturday, Williams defeated Eilna Svitolina 6-2, 6-1 after Christina McHale beat Tsurenko, the Ukrainian No. 1, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 to give the United States an early lead in Kharkiv.

McHale will now play Svitolina in a dead rubber, before a doubles match between Ukrainian twin sisters Lyudmyla and Nadiya Kichenok and the U.S. pair of Sloane Stephens and Liezel Huber.

The tie is the first time that the United States and Ukraine have met in Fed Cup competition. Ukraine’s defeat ensures that the country will lose its tenth place in the Fed Cup rankings.

The U.S. dropped out of the World Group in April last year after a 5-0 playoff defeat to Germany.