Maria Sharapova said playing in the Fed Cup had left her "feeling really confident and healthy" after injury disrupted the Russian last season.
Sharapova and Garbine Muguruza spoke ahead of their season opening games at the WTA Brisbane International.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Maria Sharapova (Q: You come into Brisbane as defending champion, where do you feel your game is at now compared to 12 months ago when you won?)

"Every year you feel like you're in a little bit of a different position and a different ground and you know I came here (last year) not being the Brisbane champion and here I am standing having a title to defend, which is a very special feeling and I played some really high quality tennis here. So of course as you return to that place and that centre court you always want to relive those memories."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Maria Sharapova (Q: How much does an Olympic year affect your schedule and planning?)

"Yeah definitely, I think it will be one of those years where I will have to go with the flow and even though you have to commit to a certain schedule, I think I will work around a few things and really just dedicate myself to the important events, which my schedule is kind of does that every single year. But just with the Olympics and it's in a very tricky spot, just after two Grand Slams back-to-back, so it will be interesting to see. I said after the Fed Cup that maybe I will take a little bit of time off after the Australian summer, but you never know how things pan out, so we will have to see how it goes."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Garbine Muguruza (Q: Is the end of season finals your target for this season?)

"Yeah Singapore was a very tough tournament, but also very nice to be able to be there. So well I want to feel that again, so definitely I will do everything in my hands to make it."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Garbine Muguruza (Q: You're the second seed what are you expecting from this tournament in Brisbane?)

"Well not much, it's the first tournament of the year, I try not to have, you know, a lot of expectations here, just try to do everything I did in the pre-season and I learn and hopefully they are going to go well."