Mexico City: Regaining the world’s top ranking in women’s tennis is less important to five-times Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova than it was when she was younger, but the Russian is eager to beat dominant player Serena Williams.
Williams beat Sharapova, who is ranked number two, to claim her 19th grand slam singles title in the Australian Open final last month.
Sharapova, who first earned the top spot as an 18-year-old in 2005, has not beaten Williams since 2004.
“I wouldn’t say it’s as much of a priority as when I was younger,” Sharapova said in a telephone interview from the resort town of Acapulco ahead of the annual Mexico Open.
“She is definitely an opponent that I have had a lot of trouble playing against in the last 10 years and someone that I would love to beat,” She said.
“I love facing her and I love that challenge. I’m definitely not shy of competing against her.” Sharapova, who will be playing in the Mexico Open for the first time, is the favorite to win against Italian Sara Errani, ranked 16th and America’s 20th ranked Madison Keys in this week’s matches in Acapulco.
“It’s quite a tough deal. There are a lot of girls that have had big wins, even some that are not seeded, so I look forward to tough competition and of course being the number one seed,” Sharapova said.
Meanwhile, Spanish world number nine David Ferrer stormed to the ATP Rio Open title on Sunday, battering Italian Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-3 in a one-sided final.
Fognini, ranked 28 in the world, had edged out titleholder and clay king Rafael Nadal in his semi-final 24 hours earlier but had no answer to Ferrer as the second seed sped past him in one hour and 23 minutes.
Ferrer added his second title of the season after Doha last month to keep the Rio crown in Spanish hands after Nadal’s success in the inaugural event last year.
“It’s been a very special week for me,” said Ferrer after taking his series with Fognini, the Australian Open doubles champion, to a perfect 8-0.
Ferrer and Nadal had joined Brazil’s now-retired former world number one Gustavo Kuerten at the Sambadrome during last week’s carnival festivities before getting down to the serious stuff of swapping their samba shoes for finding their claycourt rhythm in humid conditions.
“I promise next year I will learn how to dance samba,” Ferrer joked as he addressed the crowd at the swish Jockey Club in downtown Rio, bringing the curtain down on the $1.5 million (Dh5.5 million0 event.
Earlier, Italian top seed Sara Errani scored a 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 win in the women’s final over Slovakian sixth seed Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
