Serena Williams wore down sister Venus to win the Billie Jean King Cup exhibition tournament on Monday, finishing off the return of women’s tennis to Madison Square Garden with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
The Williams sisters gave the crowd of 12,026 exactly what it wanted by advancing to the championship, but Venus was never the same after she was broken in a marathon game in the first set.
“Hopefully everyone had a really good time out here,” Serena Williams said during the trophy ceremony. “Venus and I are so excited to be playing in here, in Madison Square Garden.”
Serena Williams won US$400,000 of the US$1.2 million purse as women’s tennis grabbed center stage at the Garden after a nine-year absence.
The venue hosted the Women’s Tennis Association season-ending championships every year but one from 1977 to 2000, but the marquee event hasn’t been back since.
After Roger Federer beat Pete Sampras in a riveting three-setter at the Garden last year, four of the top seven women’s players in the world agreed to stage their own exhibition at “the world’s most famous arena.”
“Wow, what an event,” Venus Williams said. “I wish I could’ve won.”
Serena Williams shook off an early challenge from seventh-ranked Ana Ivanovic and won 6-3 in the second semi-final after Venus advanced with a 6-4 victory over Jelena Jankovic in the one-night exhibition.
The sisters were tied at 4-4 with Venus serving when they engaged in easily the longest game of the night. After nine deuces, Venus dumped a backhand into the net on Serena’s eighth break point of the game.
Serena then held to take the first set and opened the second with another break as a weary Venus struggled with her serve.
Before the final, former US president Bill Clinton, figure skaters Sarah Hughes and Nancy Kerrigan and race car driver Janet Guthrie participated in a tribute to Billie Jean King, who founded the WTA in 1973.
“She has probably done more than any other woman in the world to empower women and educate men,” Clinton said.
The Williams sisters were clearly the star attraction for the crowd, which braved a winter snowstorm to catch the stars before they come back to the area this summer for the US Open.
The first semi-final featured solid serving and erratic groundstrokes. Venus Williams got the only break when the third-ranked Jankovic hit a backhand wide and won when the Serb belted a forehand long on match point after Venus Williams failed to put away an overhead.
Serena Williams rallied from 15-40 down to hold serve in the third game of her semifinal, then broke Ivanovic to go up 3-1.
Ivanovic earned two more break points in the seventh game, but Serena Williams rallied to take a 5-2 lead.
The Billie Jean King Cup was part of “Tennis Night in America,” an effort by the US Tennis Association to get youth registered for the sport. More than 750 tennis and community centers were signing up kids for spring and summer leagues.
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