Serena and Friends Hit 'The Mecca'

LeBron James recently called Madison Square Garden "The Mecca." It's the first arena you think of when basketball comes to mind. Well, Monday night, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic will turn the Garden into a tennis "Mecca" in the four-player BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup

And Serena, for one, couldn't be more excited about it.

"I think growing up I've always watched tennis on Madison Square Garden," the 2009 Australian Open champion said via conference call. "You know, there was the WTA event that was there as long as I can remember, and I've always wanted to play there and you know, I never thought I would actually have a chance in my career to play once that tournament was removed and then here I am."

The BNP Paribas Showdown will take place Monday at 7:30 PM ET with Serena going up against Jankovic, and Ivanovic taking on Venus. Serena said she is excited because it will give the people a chance to see, in her opinion, the best of women's sports.

"I think women's tennis right now is the Mecca of female sports, and to have an event like this put on, you know, I just think having myself and Venus and Ana and Jelena play just shows how amazing women's tennis is and how, you know, these New Yorkers can get to see such high quality tennis for one night," said Serena.


What do the Williams sisters hope to happen on Monday in the opening matches? Well, two wins of course.

"I'm hoping for an all-Williams finals," said Venus Williams. "I think that would be most exciting thing 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."

With New York suffering through some serious snowfall, watching four of the top female tennis players in the world take the court indoors could be the perfect event to help Gothamites weather the nastiest day of the week.