Serena Williams wins Billie Jean King Cup

The Williams sisters gave the crowd of 12,026 exactly what they wanted by advancing to the final, 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 said afterwards. “Venus and I are so excited to be playing in here, in Madison Square Garden.”

Serena won $400,000 of the $1.2 million purse as women’s tennis grabbed center 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’.

“Wow, what an event,” Venus said. “I wish I could’ve won.”

Serena 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 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 US Open. Many of the fans filed out after Serena won the first set of the championship.

The first semi-final featured solid serving and erratic groundstrokes. Venus 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 failed to put away an overhead.

Serena rallied from 15-40 down to hold serve in the third game of her semi-final, then broke Ivanovic to go up 3-1. Ivanovic earned two more break points in the seventh game but Serena 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.