Mauresmo Confirms Race for Year-End No 1 is On

This week Mauresmo stands at 80 points behind Sharapova, and 451 points behind Henin-Hardenne, a gap she can close if she wins the year-end championship in Madrid and the Belgian and Russian perform poorly.

"I'm better, but I'll start playing at the end of this weekend," Mauresmo told the Associated Press on Tuesday. "Next week I'll be able to practice so I can be 100 percent for Madrid."

Apparently unaware of the foot injury Sharapova has been struggling with, coupled with complaints of fatigue, Mauresmo nonetheless says Madrid will be the proving ground in the three-woman No. 1 race.

"Maria's in great shape," Mauresmo said. "Justine, if she's fit to play, will be tough to beat, so it's quite an open tournament and any player could win it. Winning (the year-end championship) last year was very important to me. I found something new and finally proved to myself that I could win the big ones. I just suddenly had a click and said to myself I had to do this. I'm 26 now and after a let down in the months before it, I really pushed myself."

Her injury-plagued season will likely put her in the elite category of players to win two Slam titles during a year and not finish the season at the No. 1 ranking.

"The Grand Slam titles and the championships are more important than finishing No. 1 in my mind," Mauresmo said. "Winning this tournament is more important than finishing No. 1, but maybe if I finish No. 1, maybe it will become an emotional thing then."

Sharapova is in Linz this week in an attempt to grab last-minute ranking points with two weeks of regular-season play remaining, while Henin-Hardenne has not appeared in tournament play since the US Open after suffering a knee injury.