I can be world number one: Sania

"By December end I will set a target for next year," said Sania who had a target of breaking into top 50 before 2005 end.

Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza, who is back home after playing a historic though unsuccessful fourth round of the US Open, is hoping she will one day be world number one.

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"I can be world number one, Inshallah," Sania told newsmen on Thursday, a day after returning from the US.

Even though Sania crashed out of the US Open after losing to top seed Maria Sharapova of Russia 2-6, 1-6, she created history as she became the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

Sania, ranked 42 before the start of the Grand Slam, said her performance would improve her ranking to 35.

Sania, who had a target of breaking into the top 50 before the end of 2005, has now set her eyes on the WTA tournament in Bali, Indonesia, and the Sunfeast Open in Kolkata starting this month.

Refusing to set the target for 2006, she said: "I am not going to give a target now because you guys will make life tough for me."

"I am not looking at next year yet. I will take things as they come. It has been an exceptional year for me as I had set a target of reaching the top 50 before the start of the season. Whatever I could achieve is a bonus," she said.

The 18-year-old, who improved her ranking from 140 to 42 in nine months, said after tournaments in Bali and Kolkata, she would be off for a few weeks before joining coach Bob Brett in Florida.

"By December end I will set a target for next year," she said.