Serena Williams declared on Tuesday that she will warm-up for January's Australian Open at the Auckland Classic, a competition that has mixed memories for the American hotshot.

Williams drooped to a stun second-round loss in her solitary past appearance in New Zealand in 2017, lashing out at blustery conditions she depicted as probably the 'least favourite' she had ever experienced.

Be that as it may, she proceeded to win the Australian Open soon thereafter, guaranteeing the latest of her 23 majors to pass Steffi Graf's Open-time benchmark of 22.

She likewise reported her commitment to Alexis Ohanian while in New Zealand and it later emerged she was pregnant with her first tyke while contending at the competition.

As of now positioned eighth in the world, the 37-year-old said she needed to demonstrate New Zealanders what she could do on the court.  'Oh man, I want to win that title so bad,' she said in a statement.

'Last time I was there I had so much going on and although I fought through to win my first match, I know I didn't play to my level.'

Since her 2017 triumph at Melbourne Park, Williams has been pursuing a 24th Grand Slam to match Australian Margaret Court's record. She is engaging back issues in front of the US Open that constrained her to resign from warm-up competitions in Toronto and Cincinnati.