Serena Williams ‘130%’ fit, rules out surgery

Djokovic is chasing his sixth title after beating Andy Murray in last year’s final, while Williams, battling a knee injury, is after her seventh Australian crown.

Finished runner-up at Doha past year, losing to Lucie Safarova in the final, and was a quarterfinal loser three times to a trio of star players – Sharapova at Rome, Serena Williams at Wimbledon and Halep at the U.S. Open….

World number one Serena Williams ruled out surgery to fix a persistent knee problem Saturday as she declared herself “130% fit” for the Australian Open.

“I was like, ‘That’s not mine, ‘ ” Sharapova said.

Tomic was once considered one of the game’s most promising youngsters but off-court controversy has clouded his talent and, now 23, he has only once reached a grand slam quarter-final.

Sharapova opens play on Monday against youngster Nao Hibino of Japan.

On the women’s side, world No. 1 women’s player Serena Williams’ path is not easy.

Seeded fifth, Nadal will play former top 10 player Fernando Verdasco in the first round. Here are Djokovic’s potential opponents if the seeds hold.

Williams has faced off against Giorgi twice, winning both times. She was named the AP’s female athlete of 2015, won the Australian Open on hard courts in January, the French Open on clay in June, and Wimbledon on grass in July. As consistent as ever, she has won four of her last six events (including Shenzhen this year) and has a habit of going deep at the Australian Open.

The aggressive, power-hitting Muguruza heads the swag of young pretenders looking to finally usurp Williams, with second seed Simona Halep and fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska also in contention.

“No, I’m a little exhausted today”, she said.

The Belorussian took full advantage, storming through the rest of the draw to take her first title for two and a half years, with a one-sided defeat of Angelique Kerber in the final.

Federer, who has won four Australian titles among his 17 majors, opens against Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, and possibly Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second and No. 27 Grigor Dimitrov in the third. But she finally won her first WTA title last summer and added another in Auckland this month.

No 2-ranked Andy Murray will open again Alexander Zverev of Germany and in the same half of the draw, 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka takes on Dmitry Tursonov.

That run left Djokovic unquestionably as No. 1, with Murray second, Federer No. 3, Wawrinka ranked fourth and Nadal, after a series of injuries, back to a spot in the top five. “But obviously it is something different to play against the No2 in the world from what I am used to”. Raonic beat Federer in the Brisbane International final last week.

The closest Hewitt came to capturing his national title was when he lost the 2005 final to Marat Safin.

“That’s one of the reasons I believe in myself knowing, okay, I may not have played five matches in Brisbane, but if I commit myself, train well, get some practice sets in, I know with that mindset I’ll be able to (compete)”.