Serena shooting for Slam history

MELBOURNE: Serena Williams has adopted a low profile ahead of the Australian Open, but rival players admit the American’s shadow looms large in Melbourne as she eyes a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam crown.

Williams won her 23rd title and seventh at Melbourne Park while eight weeks pregnant two years ago, and now attempts to match Margaret Court’s mark of 24 singles majors on the Australian’s home soil.

The 37-year-old’s last outing on tour was her meltdown in losing the US Open final to Naomi Osaka in September and she enters the season-opening Slam as the 16th seed. Yet she has proved in the past that such numbers mean little to her and Osaka said most in the locker room believed the veteran remains the one to beat in Melbourne.

Serena’s 2017 triumph Down Under gave her the outright Open-era record for singles majors ahead of Steffi Graf’s 22, leaving only Court’s tally of 24 titles -- 13 of which were earned in the amateur era before 1968 -- for her to chase. Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki admitted Serena, already hailed by many as the greatest of all time, was an unknown quantity in Melbourne after sitting out the end of the 2018 season following US Open blow-up. The Danish third seed preferred to concentrate on her own prospects, dismissing concerns health problems were affecting her game.