Serena Williams laughs off bike crash in her annus horribilis

Serena Williams's long absence from tennis as she recovered from blood clots after cutting her foot was not quite the plain sailing she had hoped for as she ended up spilling more blood in a bike crash last year.

Last October Williams was recuperating and testing her foot while trying to decide if another operation was necessary when she crashed her pink beach cruiser near her home in Florida.

"I just couldn't control the speed and I fell," the defending Wimbledon champion told reporters on Saturday after advancing to the last 16 with a straight-sets win over Russian Maria Kirilenko.

"It was horrible, it was actually really funny because everyone was laughing at me but I have this horrible scar on my shoulder.

"There was an ambulance that happened to be driving by and I was so embarrassed, because my community is -- elder people live there. They came over and asked if I was okay and I was like 'get away from me, I don't need you'," she laughed.

"It was painful, but I was able to recover.I got back on that bike and I rode home. So I'm back here and I'm playing again."