Russian Anastasia Myskina [Images] has attributed fatigue following a busy 2004 for her subdued year in which she has failed to win a single WTA title.

Myskina, 24, became the darling of her country last year when she claimed the maiden Grand Slam singles title by a Russian woman at the French Open.

Two more titles during the year, having registered four victories in 2003, lifted her to world no.2 in September last year before she slipped to be overshadowed by her compatriots led by world no.1 Maria Sharapova [Images].

"We played so many tournaments, we won the Fed Cup in the Olympic [Images] year," she said on Tuesday. "I guess the break between the seasons wasn't enough for me."

"By the middle of this year, I was so tired. I wasn't concentrating on my tennis very much.

"But now I'm really back and after Wimbledon [Images] I'm playing much better tennis," Myskina, 24, top seed at this week's $170,000 WTA event in Kolkata, told reporters.

The player, who failed to impress in Russia's [Images] Fed Cup final victory over France [Images] in Paris on Sunday, added: "[This is] definitely not my best tennis. I still need to play harder. I'm trying."

The world no.12 who has her best chance to claim her first title of the year in Kolkata. However, she is expected to face stiff challenge from second seeded compatriot Elena Likhovtseva and rising Indian teenager Sania Mirza [Images], the third seed.

Myskina, who triggered the "Russian revolution" in women's tennis, is happy with the intense competition among her compatriots.

"We have a really tough competition between us, like last year there was a tough competition for the Olympic team and there were six of us in the top-10.

"It was a tough decision for the captain to decide who is going to go. So I think that's why the desire was so very high... that helped us to move forward and improve our game."

In Wednesday's opening rounds, Myskina plays Edina Gallovits of Romania and Likhovtseva takes on Ukraine's Yulianna Fedak.

Likhovtseva said Russian woman players -- seven are ranked among the top 20 in the world -- are benefitting from their professional approach in recent years.

"You see the results and last year was good, we won two Grand Slams and Maria won the Masters.

"Now everyone depends on their own game. They know, if they don't play well their life will end as professional tennis players."

Schedule for Wednesday September 21, 2005:

Court 1 -  1:00pm IST start

1st Match 
Galina Voskoboeva (Rus) Vs. Victoria Azarenka (Blr)

Followed by
Karolina Sprem (Cro) Vs. Evie Dominikovic (Aus)

Followed by 3rd Match (Not Before 4:30 PM)
Shikha Uberoi (Ind) vs Rika Fujiwara (Jpn)

Followed by 4th Match (Not before 6:00 PM)
Melinda Czink (Hun) Vs. Sania Mirza (Ind)

Followed by 5th Match
Anastasia Myskina (Rus) vs Edina Gallovits (Rom)

Court 2 - 2.00 PM start

1st Match 
Nicole Pratt (Aus) vs Sybille Bammer (Aut)

Followed by 2nd Match
Yulianna Fedak (Ukr) vs Elena Likhovtseva (Rus)

Followed by 3rd Match
Kaia Kanepi (Est) Vs. Virginia Ruanoa Pascual (Esp)

Photograph: Getty Images

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