Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

Most female tennis players at this time of the year are dreaming of sun-kissed beaches and not going anywhere near a court for a month or so, but Maria Sharapova is making up for lost time at the WTA Finals in Singapore.

To say the winner of five Grand Slam event titles is loving every minute, could not be construed as an exaggeration but after playing just one set between losing the Wimbledon semi-final on July 2 and playing her opening round robin match in a eighth appearance in the year-ending competition on October 25, she had plenty of opportunity to realize how much she missed tennis.

With two wins from her first two matches, beating first Agnieszka Radwanska and then top seeded Simona Halep, Sharapova looks to be the form player of the tournament so far.

“At this point, especially after not competing for a long time, it’s not about proving myself,” said Sharapova. “It’s about going out and competing, playing and doing what I missed for those months.

“I feel like there are a lot of things I could be doing in life, but I somehow always choose this. I really love it, I guess.”

And she had to battle against a lack of self-belief in her opening matches. “Coming in here, I don’t think I could have had much confidence because I hadn’t played,” she said.

“I didn’t have much confidence in my body; didn’t know where to get confidence in my game because I haven’t been able to compete in a long time. I didn’t come here to try to get confidence looking into the next season. I wanted to play as many matches as he I could, get best out of them, and compete as I know how to compete.”

Sharapova worked hard on attaining match fitness after being forced to abort her comeback in Wuhan a month ago after just one set because her racket arm started to hurt. She flew to Europe for treatment and then starting practicing again under the tutelage of coach Sven Groeneveld.

“As far as a personal achievement, it’s nice to look back three weeks ago and think I’m glad I did that and got through it and gave myself a chance to play here,” said the 28 year-old who now needs to overcome a losing record against US Open champion Flavia Pennetta to complete a 100 per cent winning record in her group matches.

“I know that Flavia has been through a lot in her career with surgeries, injuries, and all the work and effort in coming back,” concluded Sharapova.

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.