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By Alberto Amalfi | Saturday, January 3, 2015

Maria Sharapova opens the new season in Brisbane craving the rush of competition, playing to prepare for the Australian Open — and gain ground on world No. 1 Serena Williams in the rankings.

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"The biggest thing for me is to have that motivation — that's what keeps me going," Sharapova said in a pre-tournament Brisbane press conference. "I could have all the reasons in the world not to play the sport, but I love competing. There's nothing that gives you that type of adrenaline than being out in front of thousands of some of your biggest fans in the world and trying to play some of the best tennis you can."

The 2014 Roland Garros champion said she has two primary goals for 2015: Stay healthy and get stronger.

"I just want to grow as a tennis player. I want to get better," Sharapova said. "I have so much experience behind my back. I kind of know what works and what doesn't. I don't always like to share my goals because you want to motivate yourself inside of your mind a little bit rather than sharing with the whole word."

The second-ranked Sharapova trails world No. 1 Williams by 1,435 points. The Russian can narrow the gap a bit with a strong performance in Brisbane; Williams is not defending her Brisbane title, opting instead to play Hopman Cup. Closing the immense head-to-head disparity will be more problematic: Williams is riding a 15-match winning streak vs. Sharapova, winning 16 of their 18 meetings.

"It would definitely be great [to regain No. 1]. The good thing about it is I've been No. 1 in the world, I've been fortunate enough to win all of the majors," Sharapova said. "I think if I focus on winning more matches that will ultimately get you to a better spot anyway so that's the way I like to look at things."

Though Williams suffered surprising Grand Slam losses last season — to No. 14 Ana Ivanovic at the Australian Open, to 35th-ranked Garbine Muguruza in the Roland Garros second round and to No. 24 Alize Cornet in the third round of Wimbledon — Sharapova says Serena is not slipping.

“I don’t think you can [say] someone is on the edge of the cliff when they are No.1 in the world,’’ Sharapova said. “She won the U.S. Open and the year-end championships towards the end of the year. She is still very strong and experienced.’’

The top seed in Brisbane could face No. 26 Sabine Lisicki in her Brisbane opener. Sharapova has won six of seven meetings with the big-serving German, including a straight-sets win at the U.S. Open last September.

“You have to take in your next opponent as the toughest one always no matter if it's first round or the final — that's how it goes," Sharapova said. "I've had good success in my career against Sabine. I've also had tough losses against her so of course it's always a difficult challenge to play against her. But that's what you want coming into a Grand Slam is matches like these.’’

Photo Credit: Christopher Levy (@Tennis_Shots)

 

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