Serena, the defending champion, is oblivious to the daily speculation in Melbourne’s tabloid press about her obvious weight gain, while Venus treats the most basic fitness question as an irrelevance, even though a left knee injury has caused her withdrawal from a series of tournaments since winning Wimbledon last July.
The pair will contest the year’s opening Grand Slam, although how long their lack of conditioning will allow them to last is open to speculation. “I am fully fit, but even if I wasn’t I would still say I am,” said Venus smugly. Serena was equally evasive about how long she has been preparing for this return to competition since that knee injury rendered her uncompetitive after losing to her sister in the fourth round of last September’s US Open. “Preparation has been pretty cool,” she revealed.
When pressed on the time scale of her rehabilitation, she would only say: “I’ve been working 100% for some time now.” The facts are that 10th-seeded Venus is due to play the 18-year-old Bulgarian rookie Tszvetana Pironkova in the first round while Serena, seeded 13th, begins her defence against China’s Na Li, who reached the third round last year before losing to Maria Sharapova.
More familiar confrontations loom. Justine Henin-Hardenne, impressive in collecting Sydney’s Medibank International Trophy, lies in wait for Venus in the fourth round, while the same stage could produce a rematch between Sharapova and Serena. Few who witnessed Sharapova’s semi-final against Serena last year would argue that it was the most compelling female match of the tournament. The final that followed is best remembered for Lindsay Davenport’s fall from first-set dominance because she was hit by what she described as a “a wave of exhaustion”.
Serena concedes that she reflects fondly on both matches, the 2-6 7-5 8-6 win against Sharapova meriting a place among her finest performances. “I looked back on the film of it recently and learnt from the experience,” she said. “I was so at peace and calm in my face, and that was so important for me. I really do see myself as the greatest obstacle to my defending this title. As long as I don ’t beat myself, I will be okay.”