Maria Sharapova is not shying away from her Australian Open favourite status ahead of her opening match against Croatia’s Petra Martic today and the Russian also admits she is eyeing Serena Williams’ No1 spot.
The second-seeded Sharapova, a champion at Melbourne Park in 2008, is coming off an incredible 2014 season, where she returned from a shoulder injury with a bang, capturing a second French Open crown and coming very close to taking the No1 ranking from Williams at year-end.
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The 27-year-old managed to carry her form into 2015 and kicked off her season with a title win in Brisbane – a perfect preparation for the Australian Open.
She owes that to the preseason training she had in December.
“Last year my offseason, a lot of it had to do with rehab and getting myself healthy. This year I felt like I could really train and push myself a little bit more physically,” said the five-time major champion.
“I wanted to feel that I was ready and fit for the beginning of this year, try to be as healthy as possible towards all of it.”
Sharapova has a strong 42-10 record in Melbourne but suffered a shock loss to eventual runner-up Dominika Cibulkova in the fourth round last year – a memory she prefers to erase with a better showing this fortnight.
“I’m not going into the week throwing flowers at myself or anything. I’m starting from scratch. I’m hungry. I’m determined to do better. I lost in the fourth round here. That’s not a result I want. I want to do much better. I’m here to try to win the title,” said Sharapova.
Sharapova is 1-0 lifetime against the 184th-ranked Martic, her opponent on Monday, and is considered the overwhelming favourite. Along with Williams, she is a top contender for the title Down Under and is welcoming the responsibility.
“I’m No 2 in the world. I’ve had a great season last year, winning a grand slam. I think there are a lot of players that have an opportunity to win this tournament, and I’m certainly one of them,” she said.
Each of the top four seeds in Melbourne – Williams, Sharapova, Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova – can mathematically finish the two weeks ranked No1 and Sharapova admits the prospect is on her mind.
There are numerous scenarios for Williams to surrender her No1 spot to Sharapova but the Russian will need to reach at least the semi-finals to have any chance of doing that.
If Williams advances to the third round, then Sharapova would need to reach the final and should the top-two players meet in the final, the winner will walk away with the rankings summit.
“No 1 is a ranking that every single player wants to grab and works so hard for. There’s a lot of players that have an opportunity to get there, and I’m one of them. I am, of course, determined to do that,” said Sharapova.
“But by doing that you need to win more matches than the person that’s in the first place. So that’s the goal.”
Canadian No7 seed Eugenie Bouchard, who is drawn to possibly clash with Sharapova in the quarter-finals, returns to the scene of her breakthrough from last season, when she made the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
The 20-year-old commences her campaign on Margaret Court Arena against Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam, ranked No98 in the world.
