The refurbishment of Margaret Court Arena, the new footbridge from the MCG to AAMI Park and new entry stairs are some of the redevelopments Melbourne Park.

“I love Australia, it’s great to come from our winter to this beautiful summer, everyone is very nice,” Safarova said.

“It’s very colourful and Australian Open does a great job with all the improvements, we really appreciate it because it makes it much easier to come here.

“It does get better every year, when I came here this year I was like ‘oh my god, where should I go? Everything is new’ so it’s great.

“I can see even for the fans, everything gets nicely done and I hope not only the players but the fans enjoy as well.”

Safarova’s 2017 Australian Open dream is alive, however she was almost disposed of in the opening round when her opponent Yanina Wickmayer had nine match points.

She said she thought back to the 2014 Australian Open Round 3 loss to Li Na when she was match point up and lost.

“When I was down 40-0 down, I knew she had three straight match points which is a lot, but I was like ‘OK, I’m going to serve and go for it and if she closes the match, it’s all I can do’,” she said.

“Then it became the next one and the next one but I was still fighting and trying to play my game.

“When I was saving those match points I thought of the game against Li Na and I was like ‘I lost that one, so I can get it back here’.”

Safarova plays Serena Williams in Rod Laver Arena tonight. The pair met each other in the 2015 French Open final, where the American won 6-3 6-7 6-2.

“She (Williams) hasn’t played many matches, it could be an advantage for me. She’s a great player and I know she’ll step out strong but I’m ready, I’ll go out and try to win of course,” Safarova said.

“If you place her in the finals, she already has so many matches and the confidence is growing. It’s tough to say when she’s playing better, she can step out strong any time.”