Ash Barty's stellar 2019 has rolled on as she swept past Madison Keys 6-4 6-1 in their Fed Cup clash to hand Australia a 2-1 lead.
An Australian Open quarter-finalist last month in Melbourne, Barty powered past the American in 66 minutes at US Cellular Arena in Asheville to record her tenth straight Fed Cup win.
The win was Barty's first over Keys, the American winning their only other clash at Roland-Garros in 2017.
It was billed as the battle between the teams' top-ranked players, and the first set was a punish for both, with a whopping seven breaks of serve.
MORE: Australia and USA tied one-all as Barty and Keys dominate
Barty fell behind early in the rubber, dropping two breaks of serve to trail 0-3.
However, the 22-year-old blocked out the partisan North Carolina crowd to take it 6-4.
It was one-way traffic in the second, Keys unable to land any significant blows as she conceded 12 unforced errors to Barty's three.
While their serves remained wayward in the second, 13th-ranked Barty proved a bridge too far for 17th-ranked Keys, with the Australian closing out the second set 6-1 to take the match.
It was a wild turnaround - after trailing 0-3 in the first set, Barty won 12 of the final 14 games to seal the win.
For Keys, it was just one of those days as she piled up 24 unforced errors to just nine winners over the course of the match.
1️⃣0️⃣ #FedCup wins in a row for @ashbar96
— Fed Cup (@FedCup) February 10, 2019
🇦🇺 Ash Barty claims her biggest Fed Cup win to-date, beating Madison Keys 64 61 to give Australia a 2-1 lead#USAAUS pic.twitter.com/4iAqK9wqBu
Australia now leads the tie 2-1 after Barty's two wins, Keys earlier beating Kimberly Birrell 6-2 6-2.
Barty opened the tie with a 6-1 7-6(2) win over Sofia Kenin on Saturday, before Keys motored past Birrell in 63 minutes.
Both teams changed their nominations for the fourth rubber, with Daria Gavrilova to carry the Aussie flag against surprise Australian Open semi-finalist Danielle Collins.
Barty and Gavrilova are set to play Nicole Melichar and Collins in the doubles - however, team captains Kathy Rinaldi and Alicia Molik could yet change their line-ups.
