Boston part of her kingdom

Wearing a tiara of diamonds and pink rubies, Venus Williams visited Boston yesterday, giving an audience at Harvard's Bright Arena. The queen of Wimbledon touched down in Allston to play World TeamTennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms and they vanquished the Boston Lobsters, 18-14, last night.

It's good to be queen.

"My life has been my life -- it's been a good life," said the 27-year-old Williams, winner of six Grand Slam events and 35 WTA Tour singles titles. "I don't think I would take any of it back. When I just looked back with [younger sister] Serena at what we've done, I said, 'Wow! That's my life.' "

Truth was, Williams was wearing a headband, and it was probably made of Swarovski crystals, not precious jewels, but she nevertheless presented a portrait of royalty. Still giddy from her fourth Wimbledon victory July 8, Williams had the look of the cat who swallowed the canary, as if she was holding on to a secret so spectacular it was starting to make her glow.

Her results coming into Wimbledon were not the stuff of trophies and titles: She lost in the third round of the French Open, in the round of 16 in Istanbul, and in the quarterfinals in Warsaw. Ranked 31st in the world, she was seeded 23d for The Championships, likely a nod to her three Wimbledon titles.

Williams was unimpressed. Her confidence comes from that secret source, that canary.

"It was definitely one of the most interesting Wimbledon victories," said Williams, who also won in 2000, 2001, and 2005 . "The best player usually comes out winning the tournament. For two weeks, I was the best player."

And last night there she was, at the Harvard hockey rink, its ice replaced with green DecoTurf hard court, its temperature tropic after sporadic rain showers forced the Lobsters to commit to an indoor match in the un-air-conditioned arena.

No sweat for Williams. She was the workhorse for the Freedoms: meeting with the media, going on a walk-through of the sponsors' tents, hitting balls for a few minutes with kids from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, then playing singles, doubles, and mixed doubles for Philadelphia.

Just for fun.

"I committed to TeamTennis before I even sent in my entry for Wimbledon," Williams said. "I love playing TeamTennis. I love being on a team. If you make a mistake, it's all right, they pull you right back up."

Williams blasted Julie Ditty, 5-1, in the women's singles; teamed with Lisa Raymond to shut out Ditty and Christina Fusano, 5-0, in women's doubles; and wrapped up her evening in the mixed doubles. She and Daniel Nestor dropped Ditty and Amir Hadad, 5-3. Williams's most impressive shot of the night might have been a backhand cross-court volley in the last match as she ran in to the net to catch the ball, then sliced it so hard her racket whistled.

The queen had her way: Williams won 28 of 33 service points.

"She's on her game," said Ditty. "I didn't have much time to get into it."

"I felt good," Williams said. "I'm out here smiling.

"I want to win [in WTT] just as much, but I guess it doesn't hurt as much; five other players can lose. When we walk on the court on the regular tour, we are at work. Here it's work, but it's also fun. We have a good mix."

Venus and Serena have taken an unconventional approach to their careers: playing when they wanted, not when they were told; indulging strong interests outside tennis; being circumspect about some of their motivations; and, most frustrating for opponents, dropping in unheralded on Grand Slam events and ripping up the field to take home the trophy. Serena came to this year's Australian Open ranked 81st in the world and won the title. Venus followed suit in London.

"I'm very emotional right now," Venus said, struggling not to smile at, well, everything, "just from putting out so much physically on a Grand Slam event, especially on my serve. My main goal is to try and get some rest, to go into the US Open. Physically, I feel fresh.

"I feel really good. Playing well under the best pressure gives you some confidence."

No question at Wimbledon, and no question last night: Williams rules.

Barbara Matson can be reached at matson@globe.com.