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Lonely Serena loving Melbourne

Melbourne - Being the world's top tennis star can be a lonely business -- just ask Serena Williams.

The in-demand 21-time Grand Slam winner and top seed at the Australian Open said she had been spending plenty of time on her own in Melbourne at the opening Grand Slam of the year.

"I haven't been doing anything. I have been spending a lot of time learning about myself this trip. It's been kind of sad," she said after sweeping into the quarter-finals.

"I have been alone a lot. It's been kind of like boring."

Asked what she had learned about herself on the trip Down Under, she replied: "I think I hate being by myself.

"As much as I always want to be alone, I don't think I like it so much. It's just been -- it's been long. I feel like I have been here for three months."

Despite the often solitary times on the world tennis tour, the Florida-based 34-year-old said there was nowhere else she would rather be right now.

"I love it here in Australia," she said, while raving about Melbourne.

"I love how it's just -- it's this little world that no one can discover or appreciate unless you come," she said.

"They have the best cafes; they have the best restaurants. I just learned a couple years ago that Melbourne is famous for its coffee, which I would have never even known.

"I just love discovering those little places. I love the really organic shops that are just around town that are just really cool.

"I just love this little -- this world. It's so many wonderful things that I'm always discovering every time I come here."

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