Serena addresses Australian Open draw

Serena Williams speaks at a press conference ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday. Williams has won the tournament twice. PHOTO: AP

Serena Williams says nobody can be under estimated in this Australian Open women's draw -- especially her.

All the top 20, and 46 of the top 50 ranked female players are competing in the season's major, starting tomorrow. But wait, there's more.

Three-time Australian Open champion Martina Hingis, who spent more than 200 weeks ranked No. 1 before she retired in 2002, is making a comeback to the majors at Melbourne Park.

While men's draw has been depleted by injuries, the women's draw contains all the top 10 players for only the second time at the Australian Open in 30 years.

Serena Hingis are among five Australian Open titlists and eight women who've held the No. 1 ranking in this field.

"This is a great first step to really getting women's tennis back," said top-ranked Lindsay Davenport, the 2000 Australian Open winner.

"Getting everybody playing is the first step to really getting it back to a premiere sport."

Davenport think everyone in the draw was 100 percent fit, but by turning up en masse, she said, the top players were advancing the cause.

Having in the draw is really what we need," she said. "We've had a tough last couple of years. Hopefully everyone can stay healthy now for all four Slams."

The Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, took time off at the end of last season to get over the catalogue of injuries that plagued them last season.

"If I didn't like my chances of winning, I wouldn't be here," said Serena, who withdrew from an exhibition tournament in Hong Kong last week with swelling in the left knee.

She played down reports that her fitness was below par and warned her potential rivals not to believe any hype about her so-called lack of fitness.

"It would be like `oh, she's not fit,' that's cool with me," Williams said. "That's fine, because then people will be like 'OK, well she won't be able to run,' -- that's a great position for me to be in."

Serena she's aiming for a third Australian title and eighth Grand Slam title overall, and hoped it would help get her ranking back to No. 1.

"I definitely want to be No. 1 in the world, but ... there's nothing like winning a Grand Slam," she said.

"Both the goals are definitely what I want to do, but it all starts with winning the Slams first."

No. 2-ranked Kim Clijsters, aiming for back-to-back majors after winning the US Open, injured her hip in Sydney last week, but MRI scans revealed only minor damage.

Justin Henin-Hardenne, the 2004 winner here, was sidelined with injuries last January and could not defend the title.

She won a tuneup tournament in Sydney this week and said she hadn't felt so pain-free on court in nine months.

No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo won the season-ending WTA Championship in November, but still hasn't finished any better than a final appearance here in 1999. She lost in the first round in Sydney last week but is expecting things to go more her way in Melbourne.

No. 4 Maria Sharapova made the semifinals at three majors last season but wants desperately to add another major to her breakthrough win at Wimbledon in 2004.

She's solved the cause of a shoulder problem that curtailed her last season, and plans to play through the pain because doctors have said the problem won't get any worse.

No. 5 Mary Pierce, who won the Australian in 1995 and the French Open in 2000, revived her career last season by making finals at two of the last three Grand Slams.

Pierce, who turns 31 on Sunday, said she wants to progress further than she's ever been.

"I have goals -- I'd like to be No. 1. I've never done that in my career before," she said. "I'm kind of looking for new experiences, things that I haven't done in a career of I guess 17 years, and to have firsts that are still achievable is exciting and motivating."

A few places back is No. 10 Venus Williams, who has won five Grand Slam titles and been in 10 finals at majors, but has never won a singles title at the Australian Open.

Despite ranking, Venus said "I always feel like a champ."

"I like to think I finished No. 1, with a zero behind it," she said, joking about her place in the order.

All jokes and cliches aside, Venus said she's confident she can win here despite being in the same quarter of the draw as Davenport and Henin-Hardenne.

But don't ask her what odds she gives herself.

"I'm not into the whole betting on sports things, so don't even pull me in on that," she said. "It's an open draw. I cannot answer that question, sorry."

That's the common consensus in Melbourne this week.