Pennetta wants to return to the top-20 fold

Italy's Flavia Pennetta is targeting a return to the top-20 of women's tennis by the end of this year.

One of the more experienced players on the WTA Tour as she turns 30 later this month, Pennetta has had a miserable start to the season — retiring in the final at Auckland with a back injury and withdrawing from the Sydney Open also with a back problem.

She became Italy's first top 10-ranked female singles player in August 2009 and also the first-ever Italian tennis player to be ranked No. 1 in doubles at the beginning of last year.

She is currently ranked world No. 28 in singles and No. 12 in doubles, having won nine career singles tournaments on the WTA, including back-to-back titles in Bogota and Acapulco in 2005.

"I would like to come back in the top 20 and improve my ranking a lot. And to finish the year in that position, say 15 or 13 or something like that, will be perfect for me," Pennetta told media after easing into the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open here.

Maximum concentration

"I don't like to put big goals before myself as sometimes, when you put it too high and you don't get to it, you get frustrated. So I prefer to go one step at a time by just playing every match with maximum concentration.

"Last week, I was No. 21 and because I lost in the second round in Doha, I went to No. 28. But every week you have the chance to improve and go back and up. And it's also not easy to defend the points you have made during the previous year.

"If you start thinking too much about winning, you start losing points and ranking. So these things for me are not important because I start getting really nervous. So I just try to improve my tennis and I think if I play good I can win so many matches — if I play bad, I don't win any."