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.
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Serena Williams must stop giving opponents head starts if she is to come anywhere near emulating last season’s feat of winning three of the year’s four grand slams, according to former world number one Chris Evert.
Sharapova played her first Australian Open in 2003 and said because of the extreme heat in Melbourne in January it was usually the most physically challenging.
Sharapova insists her lack of match practice won’t impact on her Australian Open chances as she feels she will benefit from additional time to rest following her injury.
Meanwhile, Murray will be looking to clinch his maiden Australian Open title this time around, having made it to the finals on four different occasions previously.
Williams played one set of tennis at the Hopman Cup last week before withdrawing from three different matches before calling it quits all together because of inflammation on her left knee – the same knee she said bothered her in September when she lost in the semifinals of the U.S. Open to unseeded Roberta Vinci.
“I used to have quite a regime and used to always go straight back to the hotel but now I go and have a coffee or explore somewhere new or have dinner out”, she said.
“I know what I need to do on and off the court to win big tournaments”, she added to the newspaper late Monday.
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“It’s still there, it’s going away, but just needs a little more time. I’ve been really training really hard in the off-season, and I’m really pushing myself beyond the limits, so, yeah, I just think a day off or two will make a world of difference”. “I think she’s in a similar situation like Novak Djokovic, where if they’re both very healthy, it’s going to be tough for many, many players to win against them”.
