Serena Williams was at her most enigmatically evasive yesterday. Yes, she has been training hard; yes, she is always tough to beat; no, purple (the new court colour) is not her favourite; no, she does not know her forthcoming schedule. There was not much meat to pick off the bones of her ten-minute discourse. Hopefully for her, she is saving her best for when it really matters, but with Serena, how could you ever know?

The three-time champion at the Sony Ericsson Open has not swished a racket in competition since she completed her astonishing victory at the Australian Open in January. The triumph proved once more that if one family has cornered the market in defying tennis convention, it is the Williams clan who now make their home in Palm Beach Gardens.

That this event is akin to a stroll into the back garden for them means a great deal. Venus won this title for the third time in 2001, two weeks after she had been meant to play in the semi-final in the Indian Wells tournament, but cried off giving five minutes’ notice, with tendinitis in her knee. Serena played that final against Kim Clijsters, of Belgium, and was jeered by fans who ought to have known better.

The Williams sisters have never been back to the desert, though they will be mandated to do so in two years’ time when the tournament will pay the same prize-money. Will the pair still be playing tennis in 2009, or will the life-after mood have finally gripped them? Serena stated that an Olympic singles title in Beijing next year is a motivating force — should she win that, the collection would be complete.

“I’m ready to bring my A game here,” Williams, the No 13 seed, said. “I never enter a tournament thinking that I’m going to lose. But I can’t wait to play because that’s the easy part of this sport.”

There was a new face yesterday making it look easy. Michelle Larcher de Brito is 14, from Portugal, and on her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour debut, she defeated Meghann Shaughnessy, of the United States, who has been as high as No 11 in the world, in three sets.

In doing so, she became the second youngest winner of a singles match here, after Jennifer Capriati in 1990.