Serena in line for Australian Open return

Legendary tennis player took a hiatus while pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl in September

MELBOURNE: Serena Williams will be ready to make her tennis comeback at the Australian Open with her return to Melbourne for the season's opening Grand Slam "very likely", organisers said on Wednesday.

Serena, 36, won this year’s Australian Open while pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl in September. She has not played a competition since, raising questions over whether the 23-time Grand Slam winner would attempt to defend her title next month.

But tournament director Craig Tiley is optimistic she will return for a crack at her seventh Melbourne Park crown after marrying Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian last month.

"She's got her visa, she's entered, she's practising and she's probably just got to find a bit more space for a bigger entourage," Melbourne's Herald Sun quoted him as saying. "There's no question that she'll be ready in our view and she wants to break a record that is Margaret Court's. It would be a pretty significant accomplishment for her to be able to do that."

Australian Court has 24 major titles, making her the most successful player in Grand Slam history.

Tiley described the Australian Open, which will be held from January 15-28, as a "family-friendly event".

"We've had this before. Roger Federer travels with his four kids and we are a family-friendly event," he said, referring to Serena and her baby.

The winner of the 2018 tournament will walk away with Aus$4.0 million (US$3.0 million), up from Aus$3.7 million last year. The total tournament purse has risen 10% to Aus$55 million.

Basketball to make debut at Australian Open tennis

Basketball is heading to the Australian Open tennis for the first time, with a top-level game to be played at one of the stadiums during the opening Grand Slam of the year.

National Basketball League teams Melbourne United and the Cairns Taipans will face each other next month at Hisense Arena within the Melbourne Park tennis facility, organisers said Wednesday, in a bid to draw new fans to the sport.

Spectators with Australian Open tickets will be able to attend both the tennis and the basketball, which will see the venue converted for the occasion.

"This is a unique opportunity to showcase two of the world's biggest sports in one location on one day and our fans are the big winners," said Tiley.

The basketball clash, known as the AO Game, will take place at night in the second week of the Grand Slam, when there are fewer evening tennis matches.

"We are expecting the AO Game to be a sell-out so we urge fans to get their tickets quickly and come along and enjoy a great day at the tennis, followed by a night at the basketball," said NBL chief Jeremy Loeliger.

The Australian Open runs from January 15-28 with the Melbourne-Cairns showdown on the 24th.