NEW YORK, NY, USA - Forty-eight hours after her tournament triumph on the clay of Acapulco, Venus Williams added another trophy to her collection when she won the BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup in very different conditions - on a hardcourt indoors at New York's iconic Madison Square Garden. Williams won the four-player exhibition with a hard-fought defeat of Kim Cljisters, 64 36 75.
Earlier, Williams had beaten French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 in a one-set, no-ad scoring semifinal. For her part, US Open champion Clijsters saved a match point in defeating Ana Ivanovic 7-6 (7-2) in the other semi. The Serbian star was a stand-in for world No.1 Serena Williams, who due to injury was unable to defend the title she won last year over Venus.
For her efforts Venus walked away with $400,000, while Cljisters earned $300,000 and Ivanovic and Kuznetsova each took home $250,000.
The Showdown forms the cornerstone of the USTA's Tennis Night in America initative to grow the sport at the grass roots level. Before the event King, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour CEO Stacey Allaster, former top tenner Mary Joe Fernandez and ice skating legend Nancy Kerrigan took part in a Girls' Night Out forum, at which they discussed self-esteem and confidence with 100 top-ranked girls from the eastern United States. The discussion was moderated by former touring pro Katrina Adams, who is now executive director of the Harlem Jr. Tennis and Education Program.
Jerry Solomon of promoter StarGames said he hoped the event would develop into a two-day showcase for the sport featuring all four winners of the major titles for men and women. Such a format would see the men's and two women's semis played on the first day, followed by the finals on day two, he said.
