Serena, Maria Fit for Australian Open

[January 12, 2008]  MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova aren't too concerned about Justine Henin's 28-match winning streak.

Both reckon they can beat anyone if they're at the top of their game, and they believe that's right where they are heading into the season's first Grand Slam.

Williams, the defending Australian Open champion, is so focused that she hadn't even checked Saturday who her first-round opponent will be. (For the record, it's Jarmila Gajdosova, a Slovakia native who has adopted Australia as her home country.)

"I really just focus on what I need to do and what I need to do right," said Williams, seeking her ninth Grand Slam title. "If I can do it right, then I'll have positive results."

Last year, Williams came to Melbourne as a question mark, unseeded after a rash of injuries and the subject of painful questions about her weight, fitness and preparation. She still managed to win, largely on her defiant refusal to lose. She beat six seeded players along the way, including Sharapova in the final.

"I was completely under the radar," Williams said. "I had absolutely no expectations from anyone, and that really made me want to kind of prove everyone wrong."

This time, Williams won't take anyone by surprise, with her ranking back up to No. 7 and her sights set on regaining the top spot. And she clearly is in better shape, appearing in a bright red top and dripping diamond-encrusted jewelry for her pre-tournament news conference.

"It's definitely probably the fittest I've been in a while - maybe," Williams said with a smile. "My body will allow anything really. It's ready for anything. My preparation's been really good. I've been just training every day and just getting out there on the court every day.

"I don't feel any pressure at all. I feel just excited to be here. I don't feel like, 'Oh, my God, I have to win, win, win.' I just feel like I'm having so much fun every day. Obviously, I always come in thinking, 'I want to go all the way and I want to win.' I have that potential. We'll see what happens."

While she said Henin clearly deserves the No. 1 ranking, Williams claims she is more worried about the threat from her practice partner, sister Venus. Together, they ruled women's tennis before injuries piled up.

"She's playing unbelievable," Serena said of her eighth-ranked sister. "She gets every ball back."

Like the Williams sisters, Sharapova is excited about the Australian Open after a year fighting nagging injuries.

"I had a really good off-season, injury free," Sharapova said. "I worked really hard. I put a lot of dedication into it. Waking up every single morning, I was looking forward to practice, getting better. It was really refreshing because after a pretty difficult year, it was great to be able to play tennis for such a long period of time without feeling concerned or worried about getting injured."

Sharapova said her only concern "is just to take care of my business on my side of the net."

"I don't think you can ever count me out. No matter how confident or not, no matter where my ranking is, I'm one of the toughest competitors out there. I never leave the court without giving 100 percent. It's what I love to do."

The draw presents Sharapova with a potentially interesting second-round match against Lindsay Davenport, who won in Auckland last week for her third title in four events since giving birth last June to her first child, son Jagger.

Then again, Sharapova said the depth in the women's game is as good as ever.

"Apart from Justine, who has been pretty dominant, especially towards the end of last year, I think there are a few girls that last year was their first year that they had really good results," she said. "Both of the Williams are always dangerous. And also you can never underestimate those that are hungry to be in the top 20 or to be in the top 10."

Still, Sharapova reckons her best tennis is yet to come. It's easy to forget she's only 20 years old, because she won her first Grand Slam at age 17 at Wimbledon, then added the U.S. Open in 2006.

"I've grown and I've become a much more experienced player. Like I say, with every win and every loss, you learn so much more about your game and what you need to improve," she said. "And I've had some good wins, I had some tough losses in the last three years since my victory in London.

"But honestly it seemed like a long time ago. I'm due for another one up there."

[Associated Press; By PAUL ALEXANDER]

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