Sports

Serena’s ready for Open test

Serena Williams will be playing in next weeks’ U.S. Open Championship, but she can add another New York tournament to her calendar. It was announced yesterday Williams will headline the sixth annual BNP Paribas showdown at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 2013.

“Growing up, I’ve always watched tennis at Madison Square Garden and … to play at this BNP showdown at MSG, it is awesome,” Williams told The Post yesterday before posing for pictures with the other three participants. She will face current No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in the opening match, with Rafael Nadal playing Juan Martin Del Potro in the second match.

Williams last played at the Garden in 2009, when she won the Billie Jean Cup by beating her sister, Venus, in the final. She is coming off of a Wimbledon title, and gold medals in both singles and doubles at the London Olympics, and is the favorite to win the U.S. Open, which starts Monday.

“Definitely in the Olympics I played some of the best tennis I ever played,” she said. “I don’t know if it was just for that week-and-a-half or not but, hopefully I can get back again.”

Last year, Williams lost to Samantha Stosur, 6-2, 6-3, in the U.S. Open final, but that is already a distant memory.

“That was last year,” sha said. “I didn’t win. I’m over it.”

Williams owns a 9-1 lifetime record against Azarenka, but noted the match is for the fans.

“We really take what we do really seriously, and we want to give the fans a great match by playing really hard,” she said. “So we are definitely going to play hard, But at the same time, we want to relax a little bit and have fun.”

Tickets for the event start at $50 and go on sale Oct. 9.