The Australian Open is a happy hunting ground of six Slam wins for her, and a hard-fought win here would give her a shot at eclipsing Graf’s 21 Slam wins at any of the three remaining tournaments in 2016.
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“Everything’s actually (going) really well”, the 34-year-old said at the draw ceremony.
Williams completed her look with a black hoodie, which she wore unzipped and a pair of platform boots.
The top-ranked player in the world by a wide margin, Williams was in full pursuit of becoming the tour’s first calendar Slam victor since 1988 last season but was upset by Roberta Vinci in the US Open semifinals.
Snapping at the heels of the two veterans are world number two Simona Halep and third ranked Garbine Muguruza, who have also had less than ideal preparations with illness or injury affecting their build-up.
And will Maria Sharapova, who lost to Williams in last year’s final, get through her first-round match without the recurrence of left forearm soreness that made her withdraw from the Brisbane International, where she was defending champion? “You know, this week, and the weeks leading up, has been a lot of work”.
Williams’ sharpness will be tested on Monday with a tough opening round against Italy’s Camila Giorgi, the highest ranked non-seed in the tournament.
So even if Williams isn’t in pristine condition, history asserts that the default position in these doubtful situations has to be to assume that she is still extremely likely to do what she usually does when she arrives under slightly less pressure at a slam she intends to win.
“I’m a little exhausted today”.
“Everything is really well and I am feeling really good”, Williams said. “I actually wanted to have an easy day today but in my mind “easy” is just two hours of really intense working out”.
The 52-year-old consultant for Tennis Australia, who is also the former coach of all-time Grand Slam victor Roger Federer and former world No. 1 Pete Sampras, said Williams is the one to beat in the women’s division, while Djokovic will win just because of what the Serb has accomplished last season.
Serena Williams insists she is “120, 130%” ready to defend her Australian Open crown despite suffering another apparent injury scare.
Sharapova has a first-round match Nao Hibino of Japan.
The tournament will begin Monday morning in Australia.
“I have to keep my expectations quite low and just work my way, work my game, work my mindset through this draw”. The two are projected to meet in a re-match of last year’s final.
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“People sometime are like ‘oh, will she come back?’ well, of course she will”, said Serena in the video. “I have no idea what her plans are”. Nevertheless, the draw has afforded the American several breaks if she gets past that initial hurdle.
