Serena Williams ‘Very Likely’ To Make Comeback At Australian Open To Defend Title
Dec 6, 2017, 12:00 AM | Updated: Jan 4, 2019, 11:21 am
(Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
According to tournament director Craig Tiley, Tennis superstar Serena Williams looks “very likely” to make her competitive return in Melbourne and defend her Australian Open title.
Despite coach Patrick Mouratoglou telling CNN last week that Williams would only make her mind up after an upcoming training session in Florida, Tiley remains confident that the seven-time champion will make her appearance.
“She’s got her visa, she’s entered, she’s practicing and she’s probably just got to find a bit more space for a bigger entourage,” Tiley told the Herald Sun. “There’s no question that she’ll be ready in our view and she wants to break a record that is Margaret Court’s.
“It would be a pretty significant accomplishment for her to be able to do that.”
Given that the Australian Open has amply demonstrated its family friendly credentials with Roger Federer often having his family of four children at major events, Tiley continued:
“We’d be pretty excited about the possibility [of her coming]. The entry list, which I saw last night, has the top 100 men and women, so it’s a great field again.”
Williams is now just one Slam short of equaling Margaret Court’s record of 24 titles.