Serena plays down knee injury

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 13:00

The four-time winner looked restricted by the complaint during the final of the Sydney International on Friday when she was beaten by Elena Dementieva 6-3 6-2. The American chose to call off her scheduled practice session at Melbourne Park today, but said that was only to allow herself to rest ahead of her first-round tie against teenager Urszula Radwanska on Tuesday.

Asked if the knee had been hampering her preparation, Williams replied: “Absolutely not. The knee is much better. I definitely wasn’t at my best (against Dementieva). But I feel like it’s very comforting to know that I wasn’t at my best in that match. What athlete really is at 100% every time? Probably never.”

Williams is also due to defend her doubles crown at Melbourne Park alongside her sister Venus and admitted she would exercise caution in the lead-up to what promises to be a busy schedule for the 28-year-old.

“I definitely had a lot of practice in Sydney getting that far,” she said.

“I don’t want to push it, go too far. I definitely want to do the best I can obviously, but I also want to pace myself. Hopefully I can play seven singles rounds and six doubles rounds.”

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