If there is one player tennis fans are looking forward to watching at this year's Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Premier event which starts on February 14, it has to be the glamorous Russian, Maria Sharapova.
Besides being the richest sportswoman in the world, she is also a great crowd-puller for her exploits on the court which have seen her win three Grand Slam titles. She's back to play in Dubai, having reached the final in 2006 and having been forced to pull out in 2008.
In a recent interview to XPRESS, she said: "I believe that if I play my best it's difficult for a lot of players to beat me. It's important also to be 100 per cent healthy which I have been for some time and that has been my biggest opponent in the last few years."
The 23-year-old Russian had dropped out of the world's top 100 after a serious shoulder injury took her off the WTA tour for nine frustrating months through 2008-09. But although she has struggled a bit since returning to the game, she is happy to be playing at all.
"Like I said my own health has been my biggest opponent. There's a lot of very talented players out there who can win the big events and I've got to keep on working hard to put myself in the best possible position to win those," she said.
Sharapova revealed that winning in Dubai is one of her goals, having lost to Justine Henin in the 2006 final, the last time she played here. The other and an even bigger goal, she said, would be winning an Olympic medal. "Oh for sure. The Olympic Games and representing Russia there is a big goal of mine. It's a unique event and an opportunity to play for your country once every four years."
Last season was a successful one for the world No 13, as she won titles in Memphis and Strasbourg and reached the final of three further events in Birmingham, Stanford and Cincinnati. Now she is ready to take a further step back to where she knows she belongs.
"My body feels the best it has in a long time and I am confident that my results will keep improving," said Sharapova.
Besides being the richest sportswoman in the world, she is also a great crowd-puller for her exploits on the court which have seen her win three Grand Slam titles. She's back to play in Dubai, having reached the final in 2006 and having been forced to pull out in 2008.
In a recent interview to XPRESS, she said: "I believe that if I play my best it's difficult for a lot of players to beat me. It's important also to be 100 per cent healthy which I have been for some time and that has been my biggest opponent in the last few years."
The 23-year-old Russian had dropped out of the world's top 100 after a serious shoulder injury took her off the WTA tour for nine frustrating months through 2008-09. But although she has struggled a bit since returning to the game, she is happy to be playing at all.
"Like I said my own health has been my biggest opponent. There's a lot of very talented players out there who can win the big events and I've got to keep on working hard to put myself in the best possible position to win those," she said.
Sharapova revealed that winning in Dubai is one of her goals, having lost to Justine Henin in the 2006 final, the last time she played here. The other and an even bigger goal, she said, would be winning an Olympic medal. "Oh for sure. The Olympic Games and representing Russia there is a big goal of mine. It's a unique event and an opportunity to play for your country once every four years."
Last season was a successful one for the world No 13, as she won titles in Memphis and Strasbourg and reached the final of three further events in Birmingham, Stanford and Cincinnati. Now she is ready to take a further step back to where she knows she belongs.
"My body feels the best it has in a long time and I am confident that my results will keep improving," said Sharapova.
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