Dubai: Elise Mertens puts her stunning start to the season down to a good winter break and hopes it continues this week at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The 22-year-old Belgian successfully defended her Hobart title and reached the semis at the Australian Open last month.
She now faces America’s Cici Bellis in Dubai’s first round and is upbeat despite Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza waiting for her in the second.
“It’s been an amazing start and I think that’s because for the first time in my career I’ve had three weeks off, and I think that really helped,” said Mertens of her off-season.
“I had to defend my title in Hobart and was a little stressed about it, but I’m glad I could win that tournament again and it gave me a lot of confidence going into the Australian Open.”
Reaching the semis in Melbourne before losing to eventual champion Caroline Wozniacki was her best result in a Grand Slam to date, and it makes the World No. 20 one-to-watch here this week.
Last year Mertens was a qualifier in Dubai and reached the second round in her first ever appearance, but this year she’s a lot more confident.
“I want to go as far as I can, I don’t want to put a round on it but if my level is there I think I can win a lot of matches.
“Of course there are some players you’d rather play than others but I’ll focus on myself, take it round-by-round and see how far I can go.
“Muguruza is always difficult to play against and puts up a good fight, but first I have to survive the first round.
“I’ve never played Cici before and don’t really know her game, she’s still a youngster but is experienced having played at this level for a few years, so it will be an interesting match, she did well in Doha so we’ll see where it goes,” she added of the 18-year-old who reached the quarters in Qatar last week before losing to Simona Halep.
Hailing from Belgium, the country that also produced tennis greats like Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, Mertens — a product of Clijsters’ academy — said she felt no pressure to emulate her heroes.
“As a kid I looked up to them as they were both World No. 1s and I wanted to be as good as them. I started playing tennis at the age of three and now I can say I’m World No. 20.
“I’m blessed to say I have Kim on my team, so if I have any questions I can ask her and she’ll always answer. Her best advice was in the quarters in Melbourne where she just told me to stay focused because it was all mental from there.
“There’s no pressure to emulate them, sometimes you put pressure on yourself, but I just try to stay focused like I did in Hobart and Melbourne and play my own game.”
