Garden Suits Venus Just Fine

On March 2, Madison Square Garden will showcase some of the finest talent the women's game has to offer.

Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic will be competing in the four-player BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup. On Wednesday, Venus talked about competing in the tournament (via conference call), and said as much as she respects the other players, an all-Williams final is what she wants.

"I'm hoping for an all-Williams finals," said Williams. "I think that would be most exciting for us and hopefully for the fans too, but of course there will be -- each one of us will be hoping to get to the final and there's a lot on the line ... I love playing with Serena, against her and in doubles, so it will be great."

Serena is coming off an Australian Open victory while sister Venus got bounced early in the second round. That doesn't stop Venus from being excited about getting an early chance to hit it around in the Big Apple.

"I love playing in New York. I love playing in the Garden. And like I said, I only had one chance to do it and I ran the event when I did play in the Garden, it was my opportunity to have a big win at Madison Square Garden, I'm looking forward to it."

That wasn't all Venus talked about. In the recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, three tennis players, Maria Kirilenko, Tatiana Golovin, and Daniela Hantuchova, were featured. Venus modeled for the magazine in 2005, and said the reason she did it back then was because of Serena.

"I did it because Serena did it," said Venus. "And I wanted to be like her. So that's why I did it. I love tennis more than anything though I'd give up the photos and makeup and everything anyway for a match win."

The Billie Jean King Cup will be live on HBO on March 2.