Serena, at least on this day, was sounding more committed than she has in some time, looking to add to her eight Grand Slam singles titles.
"I don't feel like I'm making up for lost time," she said. "I just feel like this is what I want to do. What I want to do is play tennis and just play tournaments for this year and several years."
That does not include a return to Indian Wells. Though both sisters have emphatically said they will never play there again, the topic came up again because the WTA Tour has made the event a mandatory one, approved by the tour's board at Wimbledon.
The breach with Indian Wells occurred at the 2001 tournament when Venus pulled out minutes before a scheduled semifinal against Serena because of an injured knee. Serena was then booed throughout the final against Clijsters.
Despite the specter of suspensions and fines, this is a sport of diplomacy. In this case, a player can mitigate the penalty by doing half a day of promotional activity within 125 miles from the tournament site and has a year to fulfill the obligation.
"I think it's good because it works all the way around, if you can't go to another tournament because of an injury," Williams said.
Said the WTA's Chief Executive Larry Scott: "We have to have a rule that applies to all players and all tournaments. But at the same time, we need to think about all types of circumstances. One of the positive things is that we're getting out of the business of trying to decide what's a legitimate injury and a legitimate reason. Because it's very difficult.
"Trying to determine when a player could have played . . . you play God. No one can do that fairly."
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lisa.dillman@latimes.com
