World No. 3 Victoria Azarenka says that while she does not entirely measure success by her results, she would not be happy if she fell back to the middle of the pack.
“I’m a winner at heart and I want to the best, so I don't think I would be happy,” she told Reuters from the Southern California Open, where she is the top seed. “If I think my best is 12th, 15th or 100 probably I would be happy, but I don't think it’s my best to be at that level.”
The 24-year-old, who served for the U.S. Open title against Serena Williams in the 2012 final but couldn’t close her out, added that while she wasn’t completely satisfied with the outcome, she did learn from it and it made her stronger.
She added that her sole aim at the 2013 U.S. Open is to raise the winners trophy, not merely play well.
“My goal is to win the U.S. Open and that will make me happy,” she said. "Until I reach that – my eyes are only on that goal.”