Serena Williams is the Queen of Madison Square Garden! She knocked out Ana Ivanovic and then out powered her sister Venus to win the BNP Paribas Showdown for Billie Jean King Cup. Not bad for her debut in MSG. She takes home a nice check for 400K. The event was broadcast live by HBO Sports.
A special ceremony highlighted by former US President Bill Clinton honored Billie Jean King.
The “Showdown” was part of “Tennis Night in America” sponsored by the USTA to encourage youngsters to sign up and participate in the sport. More than 750 community and tennis centers were involved in the event.
Semifinal #1 Venus Williams vs Jelena Jankovic
Jelena Jankovic just could not keep up with the power of Venus Williams, especially on her serve. In the critical ninth game of the match Venus broke Jelena at love as Williams’ power forced Jankovic into errors. Venus Williams wins the set 6-4
Semifinal Match # 2 Ana Ivanovic vs. Serena Williams
Ivanovic failed to capitalize on multiple break points and when you don’t take advantage, Serena Williams makes you pay. Serena Williams takes the set 6-3.
Losing Semifinalists’ News Conference
Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic’s News Conference. Listen to part one here Part two.
Ana and Jelena were presented tokens of appreciation for their participation.
The Final Showdown: Venus vs. Serena
You knew it had to happen in the “World’s Most Famous Arena.” It’s the match most wanted to see and fans got their wish. Venus started strong taking a 4-2 lead, after that Venus seemed to have no control over her serve. She began to have issues with her ball toss and placement. Serena began to stomp all over Venus’ shaky serves and won the next six games in a row and 11 out of 12 games taking the first set 6-4 and going up multiple breaks in the second set to take a 5-1 lead. Venus fought back to take a break back, but Serena closed out the set and the match. Serena wins 6-4, 6-3.
Although not a packed house due to the blizzard, credit the souls who braved the weather to support women’s tennis. Save the date –March 1, 2010. This is the anticipated date for next year’s battle for the Billie Jean King Cup.
Finalists’ News Conference
Williams Sisters during post-match News Conference. Listen to it here.
Venus and Serena do a post-post-match interview with television.