Tennis: Suarez No 1 and trying harder

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Paola Suarez is excited at going into her first WTA tournament as top seed, but says she is feeling no added pressure.

"I know every match will be tough," said the 27-year-old Argentine of next week's ASB Classic.

"It is my fourth time in Auckland, so I know what to expect.

"I like playing here. It is a good way for me to start my year. I feel comfortable here.

"The public enjoy the tournament. It is fun to play here, and the players like coming to Auckland."

Suarez is better known as a doubles player - she and regular partner Virginia Ruano Pascual are the world's No 1 combination after beating top seeds Kim Clijsters and Ai Sugiyama in the season-ending WTA championship.

But she has also fashioned a useful singles record.

After starting last year at No 29, she has risen to a career-high 14.

That has given her top seeding in Auckland ahead of Jelena Dokic (15) and 2002 winner Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi (16).

Suarez also reached the quarter-finals of the US Open in August, losing to former No 1 Lindsay Davenport. But she successfully defended her doubles title with Ruano Pascual.

"We really enjoy playing doubles," said Suarez, who headed for a two-hour workout hours after arriving from a 16-hour flight.

"But for both of us, singles is the priority."

She says her victory in the Wien Energie Grand Prix tournament in Vienna was the highlight of her last year.

Suarez was seeded sixth in that tournament and beat, among others, Dokic to win her third career singles title, and her first since February 2001.

The win kick-started her charge up the rankings, and she went from 51 to 36.

The South American has a message for her opponents when she says she has been working really hard.

"I feel I'm more consistent and mentally really strong," said Suarez, who played 22 tournaments last year.

Suarez has had eight years on the WTA circuit, and gives herself another three.

Like most players, she is more concerned with her ranking - "Of course I would like to reach the top 10" - than with prizemoney.

"Rankings are more important than money. They get you into the better tournaments."

But she has had her share of the money - more than US$3.3 million since turning professional in 1994.

After the classic, she will play singles in Canberra in her final preparation for the Australian Open where she will try to go further than the quarter-finals for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament.

She know that will be difficult, as she has yet to get beyond the fourth round in seven attempts at Melbourne Park.

She has played well on hard courts - the Australian Open is played on the same Rebound Ace surface as the classic in Auckland - but is more comfortable on clay.

"I still prefer clay. All my life, I play on clay."

Her practice form this week showed she is ready to justify her top seeding, but she must be aware of the curse befalling the top seeds at this tournament in recent years.

No top seed has retained her title since American Patty Fendick in 1988-89.

Paola Suarez

Nationality: Argentinian

Born: Pergamino, Argentina, June 23, 1976

Lives: Munro, Argentina

Turned pro: March 1, 1994

WTA singles titles: 3

WTA doubles titles: 30

Grand Slam: 4 doubles titles