Dubai: Dominika Cibulkova feels she’s finally getting comfortable with her world No.5 status heading into Dubai after working with her mental coach in Doha last week.

The 27-year-old Slovakian won four of the seven finals she reached last season, including the WTA Final, to reach her highest ever ranking of fifth.

But 2017 started slowly with a quarter-final in Brisbane, and respective last-16 and last-32 finishes in Sydney and Melbourne.

“Playing-wise I felt good in Australia, but maybe it’s still a new position for me being world No.5,” she said.

“Everybody has almost nothing to lose against me now and wants to beat me and this is something I’m really trying to adjust to, the expectations not only of myself but those around me.”

Two consecutive semi-final finishes in St. Petersburg and Doha have since steadied her start, but she said she was still conscious of her ranking in Russia.

“I was really frustrated after my semi-final loss to my Yulia Putintseva in St. Petersburg because I felt I shouldn’t have lost, I was playing OK and winning, I just didn’t finish in the right way.

“But in Doha I had my mental coach with me and he told me I just need to have good thoughts in my head and not always be thinking about winning or losing, this is something that’s not always easy.

“We spoke about how to be more positive on court because that’s why I got upset in St. Petersburg, because I was really negative on court and maybe the expectation got a little bit over me.

“But Doha was a different story, I was feeling really good on court again, and beat Sam Stosur, who I’d never beaten before and that really gave me confidence.

“Even the semi-final against Karolina Pliskova, which I lost, was a great match and I was really close to winning, so after Doha I feel really well and I want to keep on the same track.

“You really have to work on yourself every day mentally because it’s so different [being world No.5] and finally in Doha I was really feeling good on court. I’m trying everyday to be there mentally and not thinking about everything else, just my game, because that’s when I can play my best.”

In six appearances in Dubai, Cibulkova’s best finish was a last 16 in 2009. She has a bye in the first round and will then play the winner of Ekaterina Makarova and Lin Zhu in the last 32.