Hong Kong: Venus Williams beat Anna Chakvetadze in straight sets on Friday and Vera Zvonareva defeated Gisela Dulko to leave Team Americas and Team Russia tied 1-1 in the best-of-five final of a women's exhibition tournament.
Venus bested Chakvetadze 7-6 (1), 6-3 before Zvonareva survived a comeback by Dulko to beat the Argentine 6-4, 0-6, 6-3.
Chakvetadze played well in the first set, responding to Venus' power-hitting with crafty counter-punching and big hitting of her own, but the Russian couldn't maintain her form in the second set.
"She's able to chase down a lot of balls," Venus said. "Against a player like that, it's just important to focus on what's happening on my side of the net and realize that I might have to hit two or three extra (balls). The reply might be a little shorter so I might have the chance to come in to be more aggressive."
Venus also beat the top-ranked Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in straight sets on Thursday in the semi-finals against Team Europe at the warm-up event for the Australian Open, which starts on January 19 in Melbourne.
Chakvetadze was up 4-2 in the first set, but Venus broke back in the eighth game. The Russian then missed two straight forehands in the tiebreaker to give Williams a 6-0 lead.
"It's tough to play her," Chakvetadze said. "She hits very hard."
Venus broke Chakvetadze twice to take a 5-1 lead in the second set, but the Russian saved two match points to hold serve in the seventh game and then broke Williams to stay in the match. However, Venus broke right back, sealing the win as Chakvetadze missed a forehand down the line.
Venus will play Zvonareva and Dulko faces Chakvetadze on Saturday, before a final doubles match.
Team Asia Pacific beat Team Europe 2-0 in the best-of-three playoff between the losing semi-finalists. India's Sania Mirza upset Hungary's Agnes Szavay, 6-3, 6-4, after teaming with China's Zheng Jie to beat Jankovic and Portugal's Michelle Larcher de Brito 6-1, 6-1.
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