It was a defeat of Kim Clijsters with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 that got Venus Williams the Billie Jean Cup, after the American player spent days thinking that she was going to be facing her sister in the finals. The win happened at the Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
βOn the way here, I kept thinking, βIβm going to see Serena in New York,β Williams said, who just got back from defending two titles in Dubai and Mexico.
Her sister Serena had to pull out of the tournament after suffering a leg injury, ending what would have been her first meeting with Clijsters since the US Open semifinals.
The older Williams held most of the points in the game while Clijsters clearly struggling to find an aggressive game. Williams broke the 26-year old Belgian in the first game and aced to the take the final game in the first set. In the second set, Williams still got the first two games out of the bag before volleying one point out of the bounds and the other going past the baseline.
Williams was done with a score of 3-4 in the final set before Clijsters hit a volley into the net. It was another volley into the net by Clijsters that guaranteed Williams the title along with $400,000 of the 1.2 million prize money.