Djokovic, Williams prepared for Australian Open defenses

Top seed Djokovic, who wore down Andy Murray to win last year’s Australian final, won three Grand Slam titles among 11 tournament victories in a sensational 2015 season, and a win-loss record of 82-6.

While Djokovic continued his winning momentum from previous year with the Doha title – the Serb’s sixth win from his past six events – Serena arrives at Melbourne without having completed a match since her shock US Open semifinal exit.

The 25-year-old’s path could then include Tommy Robredo and No. 21 Viktor Troicki before a potential fourth-round meeting with former champion, No. 4 Stan Wawrinka.

Romania’s Simona Halep is the second seed in the bottom half of the women’s draw ahead of Spain’s Garbine Muguruza and Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska.

The 28-year-old said she was ready to add a second title to her 2008 crown after finishing runner-up three times, including falling in the 2015 final to Serena Williams. She came from a set down in the third and fourth round at the Australian Open and came back from a set and a break down twice at the French Open against Victoria Azarenka and Timea Bacsinszky.

Coach Patrick Mouratoglou said previous year she had “very little” cartilage left in the joints and she was forced out of the Hopman Cup in Perth last week with more knee pain. “I think she’s a player we should be talking about and focusing on right now because she’s the best player out there as of now with all the injuries”, said Chris Evert, who will be commentating in Melbourne for ESPN.

She is one of the few players with the power and speed to consistently challenge world number one Williams, who she pushed to a deciding set in each of their three matches past year while ostensibly still on the comeback trail.

Joining this elite group’s would, in all probability, earn for Anderson a return to a top 10 world ranking, which he occupied for the first time past year, but for what was only a single week.

Serena noted that she has seen several players training hard for the major, which begins next week, and said her preparation has to be as much mental as it is physical.

She said at the Hopman Cup her knee problem was a mere “bump” in the road.

“I know what I need to do on and off the court to win big tournaments”. Other players will be looking to make the most of their first Grand Slam seeding – a list that includes Nick Kyrgios and Steve Johnson in the men’s draw, and the fast-rising Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia in the women’s.

But she has not played a full match in almost five months after she shut down her 2015 season early following her surprise defeat in the US Open semi-finals to Italy’s Roberta Vinci.