Serena Williams out with knee, plans on Australian Open

However, Williams said she remained confident of another successful Australian Open.

Duval was handed a late call-up for America’s Hopman Cup opener on Monday after world No. 1 Serena Williams pulled out with a knee injury.

Despite her hurt knee, Williams said she anticipates being able to play against the Australia Gold team Tuesday and partner up with Sock on the USA team.

Serena Williams withdrew from the Hopman Cup on Wednesday because of inflammation in her left knee, a setback in her preparations for the Australian Open.

With less than a fortnight to go before her title defence at the Australian Open, Williams confirmed she would not play in the United States’ final round-robin tie against the Czech Republic on Thursday.

The American hoped that “a little rest and a little treatment” would cure her current problem. “I just think a day off or two will make a world of difference”.

It was during that period that her coach Patrick Mouratoglou suggested she was dealing with the same injury woes that have plagued Rafael Nadal in the last two years.

Sharapova, the defending champion, was scheduled to play fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova on Tuesday at the Australian Open warmup event but withdrew hours before the match. “But I had a really fun time today”, Duval said. “So, it’s just not even a bump, it’s just really a minor thing in the road at the minute”.

Meanwhile, former world number one Victoria Azarenka demolished Russia’s Elena Vesnina at the Brisbane International yesterday to set up a second-round showdown with top seed Simona Halep.

Following Williams’ defeat, Australia Gold wrapped up victory thanks to veteran two-times Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt, who proved too strong for big-serving American Jack Sock with victory in straight sets. The whole year was just great, but it was also physically very hard.

Serena Williams speaks to CNN on the red carpet of the 2011 Essence Black Women of Hollywood Awards.

Alexandr Dolgopolov, ranked at 36 in the world, got the Ukrainian team off to the best possible start as he claimed a hard-fought 7-5, 7-6 win against Jiří Veselý.

In the night match, Andy Murray had a 6-2, 6-2 win over Kenny de Schepper to give Britain a 1-0 lead over France. “I thought I was ready, but I can’t do a full match”.