Aptly, the final was clinched by a crunching forehand down the line, Ana Ivanovic’s signature stroke. The top seed and No 2 player in the world won her first title of the year and did so in conditions that were the perfect backdrop to her attitude to tennis,unrelentingly sunny with ne’er a cloud to spoil the view.

Ivanovic won the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells by defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova, of Russia, 6-4, 6-3 and has anyone ever picked up a runners-up cheque for £80,000 looking such a sourpuss?

The young Serb barely put a foot wrong, as her first-serve success rate of 71 per cent, no double faults, and more than twice the number of winners of her opponent exemplified. No doubt she will be back next year when, because of a momentous upshift in the tournament’s status, the women will receive equal prize-money.

It was the kind of picture-perfect day that demanded a classic final but, in truth, it did not catch fire. Kuznetsova was a touch too erratic and Ivanovic was security personified. If she can transfer this kind of touch and confidence to a grand-slam tournament final — she froze in both last year’s French and this year’s Australian Open showpieces, she will be a huge contender for the No 1 ranking.

And there was a huge contingent of Serbian fans to roar her on, a touch too raucously for Lynn Welch, the umpire, who had to plead three times for peace during the rallies. There was no stopping them at the end and why should not they celebrate Ivanovic’s talents, for they are many.

The decision of Maria Sharapova to withdraw from next week’s Sony Ericsson Open in Miami is profound in many ways, not least because the self-same tournament sponsor — the umbrella sponsor for the entire WTA Tour for a cool $80 million (around £40million) — has just become her own personal mobile phone sponsor. They is a lot of fine print examination and hand-wringing going on.

Sharapova — the world No 5, Australian Open champion and twice a finalist in Florida — has a troublesome shoulder and apparently did not take much convincing that she should rest for a while. It is a decision that dismays the sport, which knows that for credibility’s sake it has to show off as many of its leading lights as it can at its marquee events. Miami is high on that list.

In these cases, the position of Larry Scott, chief executive of the WTA Tour, is invidious. Can he be sure that Sharapova’s injury is “legitimate” and what penalties should be invoked against her for a no-show? The tour is working through the proposals it intends to push through in time for the 2009 season, with zero point penalties, loss of bonus pool rewards and potential heavy fines and suspensions for those who fail to do their best by the sport.