Serena Williams skips Hopman Cup opener with knee injury

Tennis player Serena Williams speaks to CNN’s Rachel Nichols after her sixth U.S. Open women’s singles tennis title Sunday, September 7, 2014.

The 34-year-old was scheduled to face Elina Svitolina in the Hopman Cup but knee inflammation forced the World No. 1 out of the tie.

Serena Williams, the world’s No. 1 tennis superstar, got off to a stammering start this new season after she pulled back from Monday’s Hopman Cup opener because of a minor knee injury. (It needs) a little rest, a little treatment.

“I’ve been training really hard during the off-season… a day off or two will make a world of difference”.

Russian Sharapova, the defending champion, was nursing an arm injury which meant a premature exit and no matches at her only tournament before the Melbourne slam which begins on Jan 18.

The drawcards for the Auckland tournament, Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki, play on Tuesday.

As the only unbeaten team in their group, Dolgopolov and Svitolina simply need to beat Australia Gold in their last round-robin match Thursday to reach the final.

In other women’s singles, No. 6-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro advanced to a second-round match with local favourite Sam Stosur, the former U.S. Open champion who recovered from early service breaks in each set to beat Slovakian qualifier Jana Cepelova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

“She wanted to give herself every chance to play”, said Kilderry.

The veteran, who will retire following this year’s Australian Open, defeated the powerful Jack Sock 7-5 6-4, clinically penetrating his opponent’s fearsome serve to delight the home fans in Perth.

The second seed was broken twice as she lost the first set 6-2 against China’s Zheng Saisai – ranked 72 in the world – in 41 minutes, and dropped out before a point was played in the second set.

Murray had won all four of his previous meetings against the flamboyant Australian but Kyrgios produced a largely mature performance to triumph 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).

Williams’ near-perfect 2015 ended on a lacklustre note after a shock defeat in the US Open semi-finals, but Cibulkova said that was indicative of the pressure she was under to complete the Grand Slam.