Lindsay Davenport will have more than just the defence of her title at stake when the Amelia Island Championship starts on Monday. She will also be determined to hold on to her number one ranking.
The 28-year-old, who skipped the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami to protect her troublesome knees, will be keen to stop Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo from supplanting her.
Mauresmo missed the chance to leapfrog her at the top, but Davenport knows that her rivals are waiting to pounce should she slip up at any time.
When she lost to Russian Maria Sharapova in the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year, many believed Davenport would bow out of the sport at the end of the season.
But the American proved her doubters wrong as she stormed to four consecutive tournament victories and regained the number one spot for the first time since January 2002.
Picking up where she left off, Davenport began 2005 in style by reaching the Australian Open final, where she lost a tight three-set battle to Serena Williams.
She has reached the final in each of her three events since, winning in Dubai and finishing as runner-up in Tokyo and at Indian Wells.
"I've obviously had kind of a resurgence the last six or seven months," Davenport said after her defeat by Kim Clijsters in the final at Indian Wells.
"It's been a lot more enjoyable to play while I've been healthy."
Top seed Davenport, who together with the rest of the top eight seeded players has a first-round bye, goes into the claycourt event having compiled a win-loss record of 30-3 in her last six tournaments on American soil.
But with Venus Williams in the draw, fresh from her victory over sister Serena in Miami, Davenport may not have things all her own way.
Former world number Venus got the better of her sister for the first time in almost three and a half years in Miami and she will be confident of coming through the draw to a potential quarter-final meeting with Davenport.
"I showed that I'm back," Venus said last week. "I'm so happy to be back on the courts. I know I need matches, I need more competition."
Serena will be out for revenge over her sister and her second title of the year, while French Open champion Anastasia Myskina of Russia and Australian Alicia Molik, now firmly ensconced inside the world's top 10, will both have title aspirations of their own.
