On the back of titles in Linz and Philadelphia, world number two Amelie Mauresmo believes she is playing well enough to reclaim the number one ranking by winning this week's season-ending WTA Championships.
"It would be the cherry on the cake," Mauresmo told Reuters. "I want to enjoy it and be there on the last day. I put this tournament just behind the Grand Slams in importance."
The 25-year-old Frenchwoman, who lost top spot to Lindsay Davenport last month, has a tough task ahead of her in the eight-woman, round robin tournament beginning on Wednesday at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.
Mauresmo is part of the black group packed with Russian young guns including U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, Wimbledon winner Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva, who Mauresmo beat in three sets in Sunday's Philadelphia final.
"I feel like the old lady in the group, going up against the young generation of Russians," Mauresmo said. "It shows how Russia has emerged. It's been a Russian year. No one expected this."
The red group features Davenport, French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, six-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams and twice grand slam finalist Elena Dementieva.
The top two players from both groups will advance to the semi-finals. The winner will been crowned next Monday.
Mauresmo has won five titles this year, but more importantly for the athletically-built player, she became the first French woman to achieve the top ranking in September.
"I felt like I was the best," she said. "It was the greatest feeling. You are up there. No one is ahead of you, you are dominating."
MENTAL TOUGHNESS
Mauresmo has been criticised for not claiming a Grand Slam title but says he does not care.
"It doesn't matter," she said. "Lindsay hasn't won a Grand Slam this year either. No one is saying anything about her. I'm very comfortable with it. I know what I've achieved and inside of me, I understand the meaning of it."
For a woman who has been savaged in her national press for choking at her home country's Grand Slam, reaching number one proved to her critics that she has developed the mental toughness to achieve her goals.
"I'm so proud. We don't have a winning culture in France, so it is a little tougher," she said.
"The reception they gave me was great. Being the first woman number one makes a huge difference. I'd made history in France and the world. People are very sensitive to that."
Mauresmo says the death of father Francis in March which helped free her mind on court.
"You put things in perspective when such a thing happens to you," she said. "Tennis is a huge part of my life, but it is not the real thing. Life doesn't stop with tennis matches."
Mauresmo now wants a showdown with Davenport in Los Angeles to determine who ends the season as number one.
"That would be great for us, the crowd and for everybody," she said. "But it's going to be tough to get there."
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