By Chris Oddo | Saturday, January 17, 2015

Maria Sharapova likes her chances at this year’s Australian Open, and why shouldn’t she? The five-time Grand Slam champion is fresh off another banner year that saw her win the French Open in addition to titles in Madrid, Stuttgart and Beijing. The Russian fought her way from the cusp of the top ten all the way to her current ranking perch at No. 2, just a mere 681 points from the top.

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“I'm No. 2 in the world,” Sharapova told a crowded press room on Saturday in Melbourne ahead of her 12th Australian Open appearance. “I've had a great season last year, winning a Grand Slam. I think there are a lot of players that have an opportunity to win this tournament, and I'm certainly one of them.”

Sharapova, who won the Brisbane title just a week ago, says she is feeling physically fresher than she was last year at this time thanks to a long month at home in December.

“I was happy to be in one place for the whole month of December,” Sharapova said. “I didn't travel much. I did a few around-the-worlds in November. It was actually great to settle down. My team came down all through the holidays for those many weeks.

"It felt good to kind of create a base for this upcoming season. Last year my off-season, a lot of it had to do with rehab and getting myself healthy. This year I felt like I could really train and push myself a little bit more physically."

Sharapova finished 2013 in rehab mode, not playing a single match from mid-August until the end of the season. After a semifinal loss to Serena Williams in Brisbane in 2014, she was bundled out of the Australian Open in the round of 16 by eventual runner-up Dominika Cibulkova.

It’s a result that Sharapova would rather not repeat. And despite her Brisbane title, she’s knows the competition will surely be fierce and she’ll need to be hungry to survive.

“I'm not going into next week throwing flowers at myself or anything,” she said, referring to avoiding over confidence. “I'm starting from scratch. I'm hungry. I'm determined to do better. I lost in the fourth round here [last year]. That's not a result I want. I want to do much better. I'm here to try to win the title.”

Sharapova will open her bid for a second Australian Open title on Monday when she meet Petra Martic in the night session on Rod Laver Arena.