Serena Williams) played 2009 U.S. Open champion, Kim Clijsters, while Venus Williams played 2009 French Open champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova.  There was $1.2 million in prize money at stake with $250,000 paid to the semifinal losers and $400,000 for the winner of the best of three set final.  It was unfortunate that Billie Jean King was not in attendance because she is recovering from recent knee surgery, but there were other tennis legends such as Virginia Wade, John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl (who was involved with the promotion of the event) involved in the festivities.

All the matches were entertaining, tightly-contested and featured hard-hitting groundstrokes, lots of scrambling around the court, as well as a few blistering serves by eventual champion, Venus Williams.  Madison Square Garden was more than half full and the tennis fans who were in attendance were quite spirited, especially as Venus Williams recovered after 11 pm at night from a break down in the third set of the final against Clijsters to win the title.  Venus, who recently won back-to-back titles on hard courts in Dubai, and clay courts in Acapulco, Mexico, looked a little weary at times.  Nonetheless, Venus, who played with strapping on both thighs, showed her fighting spirit and champion’s resolve in battling to the victory.  Therefore, it seemed fitting to crown Venus the champion of an event in honor of Billie Jean King.

Posted by TC at 02:47 PM |