Venus Williams, ranked No. 5 in the world, defeated Kim Clijsters March 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York for the Billie Jean King Cup. She took the match in three sets, winning 6-4,3-6,7-5 and walked away with $400k in prize money.
Clijsters had beaten Williams on the last three occasions they’d met, including last year’s U.S. Open quarter final where the Belgian went on to win the tournament. Though not a grand slam, the win ends Clijster’s dominance and will continue the momentum for Williams going into the ’10 U.S. tennis season.
This marks the third tournament, including Dubai and Acapulco, that the seven-time grand slam champ has won in a row. It also marks the 44th that she’s won in total, the best record of any active player on the WTA tour. –gerald radford
