Serena Williams admitted on Monday that she might have been forced to skip the Australian Open if it hadn’t been delayed over the Coronavirus, saying she needed extra time to shake off the achilles injury which cut short her 2020 season. 

Williams, who beat Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-4 in her Yarra Valley Classic opener in Melbourne, suffered the injury at last year’s US Open then withdrew from the French Open before the second round, ending her 2020 campaign.