Billie Jean King Cup - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Billie Jean King Cup is a one-night tennis exhibition that features the four Grand Slam winners from the previous year to compete each March at Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

in New York City.

Officially known as the BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup, the event format is a single elimination tournament with four players competing in a one set, no-ad scoring semifinal, with the winners advancing to a best-of-three set final with regular scoring.

The Billie Jean King Cup serves as the kick off to the tennis season in America as it is part of one of the United States Tennis Association's largest grassroots initiative, Tennis Night in America (for more information see below).

2009

March 2, 2009, marked the inaugural year of the Billie Jean King Cup and the first time women's tennis had been played at Madison Square Garden since 2000, when the year-ending Chase Championships were held there. Broadcast internationally on HBO, the inaugural year featured 2008 US Open Champion Serena Williams

Serena Williams

Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...

, 2008 Wimbledon Champion Venus Williams

Venus Williams

Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...

, 2008 French Open Champion Ana Ivanović

Ana Ivanovic

Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...

and 2008 year end world number 1 ranked player Jelena Janković

Jelena Janković

Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...

, who filled in as a wild card for the injured 2008 Australian Open Champion Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ,. is a Russian professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. A US resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 24 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open...

.

Serena Williams won her semifinal match against Ana Ivanović 6–3, which succeeded Venus Williams's 6–4 semifinal win against Jelena Janković. The final was won by Serena 6–4, 6–3.

Between the semifinals and final a tribute was paid to tennis legend and pioneer Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King is a former professional tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society...

. The tribute featured a speech by former president Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

, and appearances by figure skaters Sarah Hughes

Sarah Hughes

Sarah Elizabeth Hughes is an American figure skater. She is the 2002 Olympic gold medalist and 2001 World bronze medalist in ladies singles.-Personal life:...

and Nancy Kerrigan

Nancy Kerrigan

Nancy Ann Kerrigan is a two-time American Olympic figure skating medalist and 1993 U.S. champion.-Early life and skating career:...

, race car driver Janet Guthrie

Janet Guthrie

Janet Guthrie is a retired professional race car driver and the first woman to qualify and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500....

, Billie Jean King's long time double's partner Rosie Casals and other prominent women in sports..

A portion of the proceeds from the 2009 event benefitted the Dream Vaccines Foundation and the Women's Sports Foundation

Women's Sports Foundation

The Women's Sports Foundation "is an educational nonprofit organization founded in 1974 by tennis legend Billie Jean King." Its stated mission statement is "To advance the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity."...

Tennis Night in America (TNIA)

In 2009, Tennis Night in America launched as one of the United States Tennis Association's (USTA) top national marketing initiatives specifically designed to increase grassroots tennis participation across the country. The promotion underscored a "National Junior Tennis Registration Night" at over 700 locations on March 2, the date of the 2009 Showdown at Madison Square Garden, which also coincides with the start of the professional tennis season in North America.

Connecting grassroots tennis with professional tennis, Tennis Night in America was able to deliver the 2009 Showdown via closed circuit television to tennis clubs throughout the country, allowing one night in March to bring together tennis players of all ages and abilities, as they pay tribute to the game that they love so much.

In its first year Tennis Night in America was deemed a success. Kurt Kamperman's, Chief Executive of Community Tennis at the USTA said, "We were excited about the possibilities of what Tennis Night in America could be, but last night truly exceeded our expectations... The enthusiasm we saw and heard from kids, parents and fans throughout our 17 sections was a wonderful testament to the resurgence our sport has been experiencing at every level...We look forward to maintaining the momentum of this great event throughout the rest of the year, as well as making TNIA an annual event for years to come.

Perception of the 2009 event

The Billie Jean King Cup was questioned by some for the element of spectacle and prize money at the event. Attendance of the event was described as "so-so" (though inclement weather was cited as a valid factor). The semifinal matches, because of their brevity due to the scoring structure, were criticized as being played "largely with something like a clock-puncher's resignation". The final match between Venus and Serena Williams, however, was considered more engaging, as another match in the continuing rivalry between the Williams sisters.

Well known sports and tennis writer, Jon Wertheim praised the event in one of his SI.com mailbag entries, "Here it is, early March, traditionally, a time in the sports calendar when tennis is off the radar. And—as was the case last year when Federer played Sampras—tennis not only gets some buzz, but also 12,000 or so fans on the East Coast (and a few hundred thousand with HBO) can watch the sport live. The players get some extra cash, as well as a chance to penetrate the New York market, not insignificant if you're trying to build Ivanović as a global star. The USTA wisely used the occasion to market the sport nationwide. BNP Paribas gets some value for their tennis investment. Everyone comes away happy. Here's hoping this is an annual event. Maybe next year you combine genders?"

2010

The Billie Jean King Cup returned for its second year on March 1, 2010. Seven time grandslam champion Venus Williams

Venus Williams

, 2009 French Open Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...

, and 2009 US Open Champion Kim Clijsters

Kim Clijsters

Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian professional tennis player. As of 7 November 2011, Clijsters is ranked No. 13 in singles. Clijsters is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles....

participated. 2009 Australian Open and Wimbledon Champion Serena Williams

Serena Williams

had to withdraw from the event due to a leg injury. She was replaced by 2008 French Open Champion Ana Ivanović

Ana Ivanovic

. In the first semifinal, Clijsters defeated Ivanović in a tiebreaker, 7 points to 2, despite Ivanovic having match point at 5-4 up. Williams defeated Kuznetsova in the second semifinal, 6-4. Williams defeated Clijsters in the championship match by a score of 6-4 3-6 7-5.

Past finals

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score in final
2009 2009 Billie Jean King Cup The 2009 Billie Jean King Cup is the 1st edition of this exhibition tournament.The tournament plans to invite 4 Grand Slam Champions in 2008, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanović, Venus Williams and Serena Williams. Bue due to Sharapova's shoulder injury, Jelena Janković replaced her.-Players:-Draw:...	Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...	Venus Williams Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...	6–4, 6–3
2010 2010 Billie Jean King Cup The 2010 Billie Jean King Cup was the 2nd edition of this tennis exhibition tournament.The tournament featured four Grand Slam champions, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams and Ana Ivanović who replaced Serena Williams, the defending champion, due to an injury. All matches were...	Venus Williams	Kim Clijsters Kim Clijsters Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian professional tennis player. As of 7 November 2011, Clijsters is ranked No. 13 in singles. Clijsters is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles....	6–4, 3–6, 7–5

External links

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