"I'm seeing it fast now...."

“I’M SEEING it fast now. I’m seeing it fast.” Reigning Australian Open Women’s champion Serena Williams took to the resurfaced Rod Laver Arena for the first time yesterday, and if her repeated comments to her two trainers as she traded blows on the new, blue Plexicushion court are any guide, it’s quickly getting up to speed.

During a extremely hot Melbourne afternoon that also saw men’s champion Roger Federer begin his quest to win his fourth Australian Open, Williams commented several times on the speed and hardness of the new Plexicushion court.

The three-time champion, who had just flown in from Perth where, with Mardy Fish, she won the Hopman Cup on Friday night, repeated her comment, adding that she thought the court was “even harder” at times.

Williams looked in ominous form as she smashed forehands, backhands and volleys to two male training partners who gave the impression of soldiers under fire.