Serena beats sister at MSG event

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK -- Serena Williams looked up at the rafters after beating her older sister Venus in the Billie Jean King Cup on Monday night. After a short trip to her courtside chair, she held her racquet up and waved to the crowd.

Yes, the world's No. 1 player enjoyed her first tennis tournament at Madison Square Garden very much.

Serena wore down Venus to win the one-night exhibition, finishing off the return of women's tennis to the 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.

Serena Williams won US$400,000 of the $1.2 million purse as women's tennis grabbed centre stage at MSG after a nine-year absence.

The Garden hosted the WTA season-ending championships every year but one from 1977-2000, but the marquee event hasn't been back since. After Roger Federer beat Pete Sampras in a riveting three-setter at MSG 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."

Serena Williams shook off an early challenge from seventh-ranked Ana Ivanovic and won 6-3 in the second one-set semifinal after Venus advanced with a 6-4 victory over Jelena Jankovic in the one-night exhibition.

The sisters were tied at 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 U.S. 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 Women's Tennis Association 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 U.S. Open. Many of the fans filed out after Serena won the first set of the championship.

The first semifinal featured solid serving and erratic groundstrokes. 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 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 Williams rallied to take a 5-2 lead.

The Billie Jean King Cup was part of "Tennis Night in America," an effort by the U.S. Tennis Association to get youth registered for the sport. More than 750 tennis and community centres were signing up kids for spring and summer leagues.