Dubai: Tennis superstar Maria Sharapova is hoping that her week at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships will provide the springboard to set her firmly back on the road to the top of the game.
Colm McLoughlin, Managing Director of tournament owners and organisers Dubai Duty Free, is looking forward to welcoming Sharapova back to Dubai after a lengthy absence from the tournament.
"Maria is one of the true champions of the game and is highly sought after by every tournament in the world" stated McLoughlin.
"We are thrilled that she is now free of her injury troubles and is able to join us once again at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships," he added.
The glamorous Russian has struggled to recapture the form that took her to number one in the world and three Grand Slam titles, after a serious shoulder injury took her off the WTA tour for nine frustrating months and dropped her out of the world's top 100. But although she has struggled since returning to the game she is happy to be playing at all, she says.
"My body feels the best it has in a long time and I am confident that my results will keep improving. I am playing Fed Cup and then Paris before coming to Dubai, so I have a nice schedule coming up," said Sharapova.
Last season was a successful one for the world's highest earning woman athlete, 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.
Competitive person
"My ambitions are still very much there. I've been a competitive girl ever since I was pretty much born. I love the sport. Whether it's a loss or a win, I try to move on from that and build on it," she said.
As for Sharapova's thoughts on Dubai, the Russian star reckoned: "I am looking forward to playing in Dubai again. It is such a great city and I have some really good memories from playing there.
"I remember many years ago doing a shoot at an indoor skiing facility. That was really cool. I think it was the first indoor skiing place in the world. I loved it."
"I have never had the chance to visit Dubai just for fun unfortunately, as we have such busy schedules during the season, but after my career it will definitely be on my list," she added.
Sharapova will face the strongest possible challenge as she seeks to go one stage further than she did on her previous trip to Dubai in 2006, when she defeated Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport before falling in the final to Justine Henin.
