Reigning Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova has her ambition charted out for the future - stay healthy to become the world number one.
The Russian teenage tennis queen flew into Doha for the 600,000 dollar Qatar Open beginning on Monday and made no secret of the fact that she aspires to grab Lindsay Davenport's top ranking.
"I won the Japan Open this month beating Davenport in the final but had to miss out on the Paris Open because of the flu, but I am fit and ready now," she said.
"I have now realised how important it is to stay healthy especially because I want to be the best player in the world."
Sharapova said she has put behind her the defeat to Serena Williams in the semifinals of the Australian Open after sitting pretty with three match points.
"I was disappointed then but now I don't even think about that defeat. It seems so long ago," said the 17-year-old, who has spent the past few days in Spain where she trained to regain her fitness after skipping Paris.
"I really feel good now and I will have three more days in Doha to acclimatise to the conditions here before playing my first match."
Ranked fourth in the world, Sharapova is seeded second in the Qatar Open which also features her compatriot Anastasia Myskina and world number two Amelie Mauresmo.
Frenchwoman Mauresmo is the top seed here, followed by Sharapova, Myskina and Alicia Molik who have all been given first round byes which means they get to see action only on Wednesday.
Myskina, who is on track for a hat-trick in Doha, and Sharapova are in the bottom half of the draw and could run into each other in the semifinals, something the teenage superstar said she was not worried about.
"You have to be ready for everything when you are playing an important tournament because everyone wants to do well," she said.
