Serena gets fright of her life at Australian Open launch
World No.2 Serena Williams was well and truly on edge at the Australian Open launch on Friday, nearly jumping out of her skin when some pyrotechnics went off.
Serena was making her way out onto court at Rod Laver Arena when a smoke machine went off near her.
The six-time Australian Open champion was given an almighty fright, completely spooked by the loud noise.
Yikes! Image: Perform
She managed to see the funny side when she calmed down though.
It seems Serena is easily spooked, suffering a similar fright in 2016 at Indian Wells:
Williams is seeded No.2 at Melbourne Park, where she lost the final last year to Angelique Kerber.
She also lost the French Open final, to Garbine Muguruza, before winning Wimbledon to equal Steffi Graf's open era record of 22 grand slam titles.
For Williams, talk of the record being up for grabs in Melbourne was off the table.
"I'm not talking about that, move on," she said.
Kerber holds the No.1 ranking but the American said she didn't need that for motivation.
"I feel like I've been No.1 for so long, so many times," Williams said.
"Sometimes that ranking really means a lot, but also I feel like sometimes just winning events, being able to compete means just as much."
with AAP
