Serena Williams insists she is fit and firing for Australian Open

While world No. 1 Serena Williams continues to chase the title of being women’s tennis’ most successful player ever, the luck of the draw was noticeably not on her side on Friday, when Australian Open organizers handed her one of the most disappointing outlooks for a No. 1 seed the tournament has ever seen.

– Williams won five of the 11 tournaments she played previous year – a 45.4 per cent success rate. There were signs at the U.S. Open previous year that she was turning her game around, but due to the freaky concussion incident that turn around was put on hold until now.

Minutes before Williams came to the interview room at Rod Laver Arena, pictures had appeared online from her practice session in which the top seed was grimacing like she were in pain and another showed her sat in a chair, her back to the baseline, with someone attending to her with coach Patrick Mouratoglou looking over. “But after playing for so many years on tour, I should be able to focus on that and the fact that I have played a lot of matches”. Azarenka will be licking her lips at the vulnerability at the top of the WTA, and it should surprise no one should she reclaim her place in the elite with a deep run in Melbourne.

Serena opens her quest for a 7th Australian Open Monday against Italian Camila Giorgi, the highest ranked player to not get seeded. She reached the semis in Sydney but had to retire after being handed a bagel by Monica Puig in the first set.

MARIA Sharapova had a brief encounter with a mystery pair of leopard-print undies on Saturday after a laundry mix-up at the Australian Open. I haven’t played for a few weeks. “She’s a great champion, and maybe she will surprise me there again”. “Amusing you ask that”, she said, after a question about laundry from a journalist.

“Everything is really well, I’m feeling really good”. I mean, I didn’t have the match play that I’ve wanted to have. Even better, she has a chance to win her second career title in Hobart and first title since May of 2014 in Nuremberg where she defeated Karolina Pliskova in the final.

Pressed on the sore knee and whether inflammation might be a problem, Williams said: “It’s actually really fine”. She has won the event six times.

“But I also said that I think I would be way more disappointed winning the Australian Open and missing the birth of the child”. She’s been grinning and bearing through some achilles difficulty, getting regular rubdowns on her left leg and trying to fight through the pain.

She has won 21 major titles, including the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon in 2015.

Between those defeats, she captured her second “Serena Slam” by finding direction in the surrounding doubt. She defeated the likes of Ana Ivanovic, Garbine Muguruza, Caroline Wozniacki, Aga Radwanska, Simona Halep, and Serena Williams all in 2015.

What is clear is that Williams has become less certain to finish what she starts.