Maria eyes more Grand Slam glory

STUTTGART, Germany: Maria Sharapova will not settle for lower-tier titles after making her comeback last year and the former world No 1 is determined to add to her five grand slam crowns.

The 31-year-old Russian returned from a 15-month doping ban at the Stuttgart Grand Prix last April and Sharapova has since won one title, the Tianjin Open, after inconsistent performances and injury problems.

“When you’ve experienced grand slam victories, it’s absolutely natural to have that goal in your mind,” Sharapova told CNN.“It would be silly for me to say my goal for this year is to win a lower-tier tournament because I strive to be on the big stage and to win on the big stage.

“I’ve experienced it, and I know what it’s like and I want that feeling again. I continue to work for that.”Sharapova, who won her last grand slam title at the 2014 French Open, has no plans to retire.

“I haven’t set a time table for myself, but I’ve always said that I would do it on my own terms,” she said.“I’d love to play in another Olympics, but I don’t know if that will happen and at this point in 2018, I don’t really want to know. I want to keep going and I want to keep working and see where that takes me.”

Meanwhile, after winning the Stuttgart Grand Prix title a year ago, and reaching the final in 2016, Germany’s Laura Siegemund is vowing to take it slowly as she returns following a knee ligament injury.

The 30-year-old, ranked 100th in the world, was out from late May — less than a month after lifting the Stuttgart title by beating Kristina Mladenovic in the final — until her return last month in a low-key Italian event where she reached the quarter-finals.

A wild-card entry here, Siegemund told the WTA she is not prepared to push too hard on her knee and plans a step-by-step approach.“I’m looking forward to the tournament a lot, I love the crowd and the place — I just want to show some good tennis,” said Siegemund, who will face a tough first-round test against Czech Barbora Strykova on Tuesday at the Porsche Arena.

“I have nothing to lose, I’m coming back after such a long time.”The native of nearby Filderstadt added: “I want to enjoy myself. I was not thinking about a particular tournament to return for, but of course I wanted to be ready for Stuttgart.”“There are a lot of great players here and I certainly don’t like to think about winning a tournament before I’ve even started it. I go step by step.