• Pain management key to Briton’s return after four-month hiatus • GB hopes in Fed Cup dealt a blow after she rules herself out
Johanna Konta, in normal circumstances, would be the best
British hope to go deep at the
Australian Open but, having limped into town on one good knee, her immediate and longer-term prospects are as tough to read as the weather.
First-day focus will swing, inevitably, towards
Serena Williams – who begins her pursuit of Margaret Court’s record of 24 major titles when she plays the
Russian Anastasia Potapova – and the defending champion, Naomi Osaka, who opens proceedings on Rod Laver Arena against Marie Bouzkova.