Maria Sharapova, speaking to reporters are the Australian Open, believes she can get her serve back to the level it was before shoulder surgery in the fall of 2008.
"I truly believe that. I think if I didn't, I wouldn't be here," said Sharapova, who experimented with different service motions and struggled with double faults last year.
She switched bck to her original motion in the fall and said time off at the end of the year had helped her rebuild confidence in the stroke.
"In the off-season, I really had the time to go in the gym and spend hours and go out on the court and play and serve buckets of balls without having to worry about time or amount of balls I hit," said Sharapova.
"The shoulder is pretty sensitive to making sure you have the right amount of tennis but also making sure you have the right amount of strength in the gym, the small exercises you do, building the smaller muscles around the joint, the area where you had the surgery."