“I think Victoria is the player to beat,” Williams said. “She has won I don’t know how many tournaments this year alone. That’s an amazing amount. So if you look at the stats, you just have to put her up there as the player to beat.”

Juan Martin Del Potro shows off his biking skills in Estoril.

Men’s Notes: Del Potro is the defending champ, beat Fernando “Hot Sauce” Verdasco in last year’s final; seeds making debuts at the event are Wawrinka, Ramos, Istomin and Haase; (5) Istomin a tough opener against the French veteran Mathieu; returning champs in the field are Del Potro (2011) and Montanes (2010-09).

Notes: (1) Dementieva opens against Peng, and (3) Wickmayer against the Osaka finalist Schnyder; wildcards went to Dementieva, Russian Yulia Putintseva, Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella, and France’s Virginie Razzano; in last year’s final Francesca Schiavone defeated Olga Govortsova.

Loaded non-seeded field with former No. 1s Ivanovic and Safina, and former No. 2 Kuznetsova unseeded; first-round match-ups of interest are (6) Bartoli vs. Hantuchova, (7) Peer vs. (WC) Ivanovic, (8) Wickmayer vs. Kuznetsova, and potential second-round match-ups after seeded byes (1) Jankovic vs. Rezai and Stosur vs. Azarenka or Oudin

You really can hit a winner off a moonball, watch Maria Kirilenko do it.

I wasn’t sure when to make a mid-tournament assessment.

US Open champion Kim Clijsters had dominated her opponent, Nadia Petrova, in four prior meetings, but it wasn’t the Belgian’s night.

The younger Williams sister’s movement seemed around 75% — which could lead to a Melbourne moment when she faces the first player who can hit three consecutive balls in the court and make her run, unlike Radwanska.