Serena muscles up for another year

Serena Williams missed the last Australian summer but she appears set to return to her powerful and potent best next month.
Williams looked happy, relaxed and extremely fit as she ate lunch aboard a yacht with friends.
Williams is in Miami preparing for the Australian Open, a tournament she has won five times from 11 appearances, and she will again be among the favourites in Melbourne despite a lacklustre finish to 2011.
Illness forced her out of tournaments in Tokyo and Beijing in October. Her last appearance was in the US Open final on September 11 when she lost to Sam Stosur. She only played six tournaments in 2011, missing two of the four majors — the Australian Open and French Open — due to the after-effects of a pulmonary embolism. But from those six, she reached three finals and won two.
“By now she knows how to manage her career and she’s also got a great game,” said former tour champion Nicole Bradkte, on how Williams keeps resurrecting her career from serious injuries or long lay-offs.
“She has a beautiful game when it’s on. She’s a very clean hitter of the ball and has a very good service action so there’s not a hell of a lot that can go wrong, in respect of technical issues with her game. So if she’s playing well and she’s confident she’s very difficult to beat.”
Her ranking has only slipped to No 12, so with no points to defend in Brisbane or Melbourne, Williams can jump back into the upper level quite easily.
“Traditionally when she’s started well in January she’s ended up having a strong year so that’d be her first objective,” said Australian Open director Craig Tiley.
“She’s said before that she’s got a lot of tennis in her. Especially with her age, her longevity and her success in the game, people might think it was time for her to think about something else.
“But not Serena. She’s highly competitive, loves to compete, loves to win. I know she’s fit and raring to go. So that’s good news for the Australian Open.”