Serena Williams wore down sister Venus to win the Billie Jean King Cup exhibition tournament on Monday, finishing off the return of women's tennis to Madison Square Garden with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. 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 semifinal after Venus advanced with a 6-4 victory over Jelena Jankovic in the one-night exhibition. 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.
