Wimbledon champion Venus Williams has beaten Russian Maria Sharapova in straight sets to win the J.B. Group Classic exhibition tennis tournament in Hong Kong.
Williams, a six-time major tournament champion, took advantage of Sharapova's mistakes to win the Gold Group final in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
The eight-woman field at the J.B. Group Classic also featured Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, Russia's Elena Dementieva, China's Peng Shuai, Russia's Anna Chakvetadze, Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova and Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki. The winners of earlier matches advanced to the Gold group while the losers played in the Silver Group.
The tournament is also one of several events players are using to prepare for the first major tournament of the year, the Australian Open, which starts January 14th in Melbourne.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
