“I’m nowhere near where I want to be,”

“I’m nowhere near where I want to be,” said Serena Williams, who came into the tournament nursing a sprained left ankle. “I’m just trying to play through it. A little rusty, just trying to play through my rust.”

Williams, who racked up her 501st career match win, is hoping to become the second woman over age 30 to win the Australian title in the Open era.

“It makes me feel really good,” she said of her Hungarian Greta Arn’s remarks. “I’m really proud of the work that I’ve been doing for so many years, all the hard work.”