She was about 10 years old.
"Really a fun experience,'' Williams said on Wednesday, the first day of the Sony Ericsson Open. "I just remember watching the matches and wanting to play here.''
Wish granted. Williams has collected enough trophies to fill several cases since her days as a lemonade-sipping spectator, and nowhere is she more dominant than at Key Biscayne, the tournament she considers her home event.
Williams won for the second year in a row in 2008 to match Steffi Graf's record of five Key Biscayne titles. She's 47-5 in the tournament, with one loss since 2001 - to her sister.
"I love playing here,'' said Williams, who lives 90 minutes up Interstate 95 in Palm Beach Gardens. "I have so many friends that come down. Some of them can't come in the beginning; they can only come at the end. So I always joke that I've got to be playing at the end of the tournament. It has worked for me in the past.''
Williams and the other seeded players received first-round byes and will be in action beginning on Friday. Those advancing on the opening day of the 12-day event included Marcos Baghdatis, Jarkko Nieminen and Fabrice Santoro in men's play. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Lucie Safarova and Jelena Dokic were among first-round winners in the women's draw.
Perhaps the foremost threat to Williams' reign at Key Biscayne is her sister, a three-time champion seeded fifth. They could meet in the semifinals.
As usual, the sisters skipped the Indian Wells tournament this month, and they arrived at Key Biscayne following a monthlong layoff from the tour. Serena's focus is not yet entirely on tennis - she held a news conference on Wednesday to introduce a new line of jewelry and handbags, discussing "price points'' and "comfortability'' with the same zeal she shows returning a second serve.
She said her passion for fashion provides a welcome diversion from tennis, but she finds it draining to be so busy between events.
"For me to play a tournament is the easiest thing in the world,'' she said. "It's like my relaxing time. If not, I'm busy doing a photo shoot, usually two a day. I have to practice really, really early, because I have to fit the other stuff in. Then I'm on the phone doing interviews - this is all in one day. I somehow have to go to the gym, and I don't know how I do it. It's really stressful and so much easier for me to play the tournaments.''
Long criticized for not devoting enough time and energy to tennis, Williams last year proclaimed the sport her No. 1 priority. The results show: She has won the past two Grand Slam tournaments, most recently the Australian Open in January for her 10th major title.
"Obviously she's a great player,'' said Vera Zvonareva, who took advantage of the Williams sisters' absence to win Indian Wells. "She can play unbelievably good tennis. It's up to the other players to see if they can find the little things that will bother Serena on a particular day.''
The current level of competition gives Williams a good chance to dominate in 2009, however. Among the other players ranked in the top six, including Zvonareva, only Venus has won a major title.
Serena first rose to No. 1 in 2002, and she believes her interest in fashion, acting and other diversions helps keep tennis fresh for her. At 27, she can still sound like a 10-year-old talking about the game.
"What I love most is walking out on the court with my racket bag and that atmosphere of walking out and thinking that people are there to see me,'' she said. "I still get a rush. It's so cool that people would come to see me play. It's shocking. That makes me feel super excited every time.''
Rivals such as Justine Henin and Martina Hingis have called it a career, but retirement's not on the horizon for Williams. She said she's not concerned with trying to break Graf's record at Key Biscayne this year because she'll have many more chances.
The sisters take pride in their tennis longevity.
"We look at each other and we say, 'Yeah, we're still here,''' Venus said. "And we high-five each other.''
It's lucky for American tennis they're still playing. Aside from the Williams sisters, there are only two U.S. women ranked in the top 100.
"I guess we just have to stay out here until some Americans come up,'' Serena said with a laugh.
