Serena Williams confirms participation in Australian Open

American tennis ace Serena Williams who had won the Australian Open title in 2017 when she was eight weeks pregnant, has confirmed her participation in the 2019 edition of the prestigious tournament.

The 37-year-old had skipped this year's Australian Open saying that she is not fully ready to return for the season-opening Grand Slam as she believes her preparations had fallen just short of what she needed to be competitive. It should be noted that if Williams managed to win the tournament, she would match Australian tennis player Margaret Court's all-time record tally of 24 Grand Slam titles.

World number one Novak Djokovic and 20-time Grand slam champion Roger Federer have also confirmed their participation in the Grand Slam event.

The organisers of the event have claimed that as many as 102 top women tennis players and 101 top men tennis players have confirmed that they will participate in the 2019 Australian Open.

British tennis player Andy Murray has also confirmed his availability for the Grand Slam event. Murray is making a comeback to tennis court after battling a hip injury due to which he had backed out from the 2018 Wimbledon Championship.

Former World number one Rafael Nadal, who had to pull out of the semi-final of the 2018 US Open owing to a knee injury, has also recovered from the injury and will be seen fighting for the prestigious trophy.

Tournament director Craig Tiley, while welcoming all the players, said that he is looking forward to the competition.

"It's an exciting time of year and we can't wait to welcome this exceptionally strong player field to Melbourne for Australian Open 2019," Australian Open official website quoted Tiley, as saying.

Australian Open is slated to be held from January 14 to 27 at Melbourne, Australia.

-ANI