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Serena Williams says she'll have to manage her shoulder injury through her Australian Open campaign but is confident it won't affect her campaign.
Serena Williams is confident her shoulder issue won't affect her Australian Open campaign but concedes she'll have to manage the injury across the tournament.
Williams pulled out of her Yarra Valley Classic semi-final clash with Ash Barty on Friday, citing a right shoulder injury.
"I feel pretty good - I've gotten a lot of treatment already on my shoulder but I'm super confident it's going to be great," Williams told reporters on Saturday.
"So I'm feeling very confident, I think is a better word, and getting ready for hopefully the next two weeks.
"... It's definitely something that I'm gonna have to deal with for the fortnight and kind of knowing that going into the tournament definitely helped.
"But also knowing okay I'm going to probably have to pick up some different therapy exercises after each match etc is going to be really important."
Williams said the fact warm-up tournament games were now being played close to the start of the Australian Open hadn't contributed to her decision to pull out of her match against Barty.
"I didn't really think about that so much," she said.
"I was just thinking about more or less how I was feeling I think at my age and my career I really just try to go on how I'm feeling physically and not put myself in a bad position in general for my health."
The 39-year-old is chasing her 24th grand slam singles title and her eighth Australian Open triumph.
Williams will face Germany's Laura Siegemund in the first round.
Fellow grand slam winners Naomi Osaka (shoulder), Victoria Azarenka (back) and Simona Halep (back) are also dealing with minor injuries leading into the Australian Open.
Reigning champion Sofia Kenin said she'd been dealing with a "completely sore" left groin and left glute during her loss to Garbine Muguruza on Friday, but had pulled up well and felt better on Saturday.
Kenin believed the increased intensity of returning to competitive matches had contributed to her soreness.
