Serena needs more time — and she’ll need a wildcard too

Serena Williams has pulled out of the Australian Open, explaining that she needs more time to return to tournament-winning shape.

The withdrawal was no surprise to tennis insiders. Williams gave birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia on September 1, which left her only four-and-a-half months to prepare for the year’s first grand slam.

The closest comparison is Kim Clijsters, who made a triumphant return at the 2009 US Open after becoming a mother. But Clijsters had put herself through nine months of fitness work and tennis training first.

Williams did appear in an exhibition match in Abu Dhabi last week, where she split sets with the reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and then lost 10-5 on the super tie-break. But that match was played at less than full pace.

“I can compete, but I don’t want to just compete, I want to do far better than that and to do so, I will need more time,” she said.

Williams was eight weeks pregnant when she won last year’s Australian Open – and did so without dropping a set. By failing to defend her title she will lose her remaining rankings points, and will have to rely on wildcards when she decides to play again.

Williams’s withdrawal came only a few hours after that of Andy Murray, who has a chronic hip injury.

Injuries have plagued the start of the new tennis season. Other big names in doubt for the Aussie Open include six-time champion Novak Djokovic, who plans to test the readiness of his right elbow in the Kooyong Classic exhibition event in Melbourne this week.