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World number one Williams eventually prevailed 4-6 7-6(3) 6-3
against the dogged Italian to take her career record over her to 8-0
but the American was not impressed.
The U.S. were beaten 3-2 as Williams and Alison Riske were thrashed
6-0 6-3 in the doubles rubber by Errani and Flavia Pennetta, meaning
they were relegated to World Group II.
"Today has been a big eye opener," Williams said afterwards. "I'm
totally not as ready for the claycourt season as I thought I was.
Now I'm in the mindset of, 'You know what, I'm not on hard court.'
I'm playing like I'm on hard court and I'm not.
"So I have to play and be ready to hit a thousand shots if
necessary."
Williams, 33, won her 19th singles grand slam at the Australian Open
and her dominance has raised talk of her claiming all the majors
this year.
The French has been her least successful of the four though despite
claiming the title in Paris in 2002 and 2013.
Her doubles defeat on Sunday blotted an otherwise flawless Fed Cup
record and left the U.S. facing a battle to get back amongst the
elite nations next year.
"We have to work harder," U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez said. "We
came close today and need to just keep plugging away.
"The good news is that we have a lot of players in the top 100 and,
hopefully, we can get two wins next year and get back into the World
Group."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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