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 The 28-year-old enjoyed a positive start to her campaign by reaching
the Australian Open final, which she lost to Serena Williams, before
her regular season effectively ended with a Wimbledon semi-final
defeat to the same opponent.
A leg strain ruled Sharapova out of the U.S. Open and she pulled out
of her comeback match in Wuhan with a forearm injury last month,
opting to return to Europe to convalesce before arriving in
Singapore wary of her chances of victory.
"I've done quite a few start and stops in the last four months,
that's kind of been the toughest part, but ultimately, I know that a
lot of the girls have been fighting for the last few positions in
the last few weeks," Sharapova told reporters.
"I've had the luxury by being somewhat consistent in the first half
of the year to give myself the opportunity just to heal, knowing I
was already in, doing everything I could not having to rush around,
seeing if I could play through a tough injury or not.
"So, yeah, that's been helpful, but obviously frustrating not
competing."
When Williams opted to skip the Singapore event after ending her
season early following her shock U.S. Open semi-final loss, the
eight-women tournament was thrown open but Sharapova does not expect
to benefit from the American's absence.
"Look, it's a big step for me to be here and feel that I am
healthy," added Sharapova, who will compete round robin play in the
Red Group alongside Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska and U.S. Open
champion Flavia Pennetta.
"It will be a bigger step that I'll be able to compete in those
three matches and finish them off healthy. That's my goal," the
world number three said.
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"Everything else I just have to take the positives out of because I
feel I've committed myself to being here and done everything
possible.
"If I can stay healthy and work my way through the matches no matter
who I'm playing, in this particular situation I have to worry about
myself a little bit more than who I'm playing against."
The five-times grand slam tournament champion won the WTA Finals for
her first and only time back in 2004 but she does not see herself as
the player to beat when the tournament begins at the Singapore
Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
"That's not the way that I think. I don't think it would be fair to
myself if I thought that way," she admitted. "I'm one of the eight
players. I did something to be in the field. I want to take my
opportunity and that's how I see it from my side."
Garbine Muguruza, Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber and Lucie Safarova
are the quartet who make up the White Group.
(Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
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