As per the news, Serena Williams announced on Tuesday she'll warm-up for Australian Open January's at the Auckland Classic. The tournament has rather mixed experiences for the American tennis star. Williams slump to a shock in the second-round loss in her only previous appearance in New Zealand in 2017.
But, she could win the Australian Open later in the same month claiming the most recent of her 23 majors to surpass Steffi Graff's open-era benchmark of 22. She also declared her engagement to Alexis Ohanian while being in New Zealand and it later revealed she was pregnant with her first child while playing at the tournament.
At the moment she is ranked eighth in the world, the 37-year-old said, she has to show New Zealanders what she could achieve on the court. "Oh man, I want to win that title so bad," she said in a statement. "Last time I was there, although I fought through to win my first match, I know I couldn't play to my expectations." Since her 2017 win at Melbourne Park, Williams has been pursuing the 24th Grand Slam to match Australian Margaret Court's record. She is down with back problems ahead of the US Open that forced her to return from warm-up tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati respectively.
