NEW YORK (AP) — Venus Williams wants to play her top-ranked sister Serena when women's tennis returns to Madison Square Garden for the first time in nearly nine years.
The Williams sisters will join Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic on March 2 in the BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup. They will compete for $1.2 million in prize money.
"I'm hoping for an all-Williams final," Venus said on Wednesday during a conference call. "That would be most exciting for us and, of course, for the fans. I love playing with Serena, against her and in doubles."
The single-elimination exhibition will feature three players who won Grand Slam titles in 2008. Ivanovic won her first major at the French Open, Venus won Wimbledon and Serena won the U.S. Open and this year's Australian Open. Jankovic finished last year ranked No. 1.
The draw will be held this month, and they will compete in a one-set, no-advantage scoring semifinal. The winners will play a best-of-three final.
In her only appearance at Madison Square Garden, Venus lost in the 1999 WTA season-ending tournament.
"There is an unbelievable amount of tennis tradition there for the women," she said. "It was the pinnacle of the season. I feel honored to be playing."
The Garden hosted its final WTA season-ending championships in 2000. Williams captured her first season-ending event last November in Doha, Qatar.
Roger Federer and Pete Sampras played an exhibition last March at the Garden, the first men's pro tennis competition there since 1996.
The Williams sisters last faced off at the Wimbledon final. They've combined to win the last three Grand Slam singles titles, so the goal is to stay healthy throughout the season.
"As long as that happens, I really play good tennis," said Williams, who teamed with Serena to win the Australian Open doubles title. "I love the challenge. If it wasn't challenging, we wouldn't love it as much as we do."
Williams will compete in the Dubai Championships which begin on Sunday. She hasn't changed her mind about skipping the tournament next month at Indian Wells, California, one of the mandatory events on the WTA schedule. In 2001, Venus defaulted with a knee injury before a semifinal match against Serena and they were booed by the crowd.
She said King, an investor in the Indian Wells tournament, hasn't tried to persuade her to play.
"I don't think that's her job or her aim," Venus said. "With Billie, her whole intention has been if I'm OK and happy more than anything else."
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