Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Garden Party

God knows I've been to my share of tennis exhibitions. I've endured the indignity of listening to promoters play "The Boy From New York City" by the Manhattan Transfer when John McEnroe came on court back in 1980; ball-boying for Stephanie Rehe (like I couldn't beat her); and worst of all, watching Martina Navratilova and Roger Federer "lose" a set (to Chris Evert and Pete Sampras, respectively), just so it would "go the distance." (My brother Bill and I drove to Tucson in the early '80s to see Chris and Martina fake it; and Bill and his wife traveled to New York last March for the annoying Roger-Pete "showdown" at the Garden.) So it was on those grounds -- on top of the fact that I'm not much of a fan of any of the four participants -- that I completely skipped last night's Billie Jean King Cup at Madison Square Garden. Featuring the world's top four players, Serena Williams beat Ana Ivanovic, 6-3, and Venus beat Jelena Jankovic, 6-4, to set up the (big shock!) all-Williams final, which Serena won 6-4, 6-3. (Technically, I guess I would have been surprised that it didn't go three, but then again, they already "gave at the office" in the earlier "round.")

I ended up getting an e-mail from a friend who found himself with an extra ticket and although slightly disappointed that I was at work, I was still OK with not being able to go. My only twinge of regret occurred later in the night when I later found out that before the final, former President Bill Clinton (along with Sarah Hughes and Nancy Kerrigan and race car driver Janet Guthrie) paid tribute to Billie Jean, 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. Indeed, she has. The Billie Jean King Cup was part of "Tennis Night in America," an effort by the U.S. 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. "Billie Jean King has done so much for the game," Jankovic said. "She's really a true legend in the sport. I think this is a really great tribute to her." (The $1.2 million purse was probably more a tribute to the girls, nearly the total Billie Jean made during her entire career.)

My friend Christopher lives near Billie Jean (and her partner, former South Africa pro Ilana Kloss) on the Upper West Side and assures me Billie Jean, who has a crush on his dog, is as sweet as they can be. Not that he needed to tell me. I did ball boy for her back in the Team Tennis days, you know. Yet another favorite "serious" competition ...

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