By ROY KAMMERER
Associated Press Writer
BERLIN (AP) -- Just days after People magazine named her as one of the world's 50 most beautiful people, Maria Sharapova was on court chasing a more exclusive list.
The 18-year-old Russian could become the world's top-ranked tennis player this week, passing Lindsay Davenport, if she wins the US$1.3 million (?1.01 million) Qatar Total German Open.
"It obviously would be an honor, I don't think about it. If it works out, it works out. If not, I have a lot of years ahead of me," said Sharapova Monday at a press conference jammed with photographers and TV camera people who couldn't get enough pictures of the photogenic blonde.
The event, a major tuneup for the French Open, boasts five top-10 players led by the defending champion _ second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo _ as well as former world-leading Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne.
The biggest threat for Wimbledon champion Sharapova could be Henin-Hardenne. She was sidelined most of last year with a virus and knee injuries, but has come back strong, winning at Charleston and Warsaw in the past two weeks.
Those victories reaffirmed the speedy Belgian's prowess on clay. She won the German Open in 2003, then went on to take the French Open a weeks later for her breakthrough Grand Slam title.
Henin-Hardenne said the long layoff turned into a blessing.
"I am lucky to be back on court. I felt like a machine before my illness," she said. "You know I am only 22 and it was a good lesson _ listen to myself and get a rest."
Clijsters has also made a spectacular comeback from injury, winning at Indian Wells and Miami, where she beat Sharapova in the final. But she fears for her ongoing left wrist problem during the punishing clay-court season.
"I would rather play the whole year on faster surfaces, but I have no choice. So I will give it a shot, but I surely will be happy when we get to Eastbourne," she said of the grass-court event.
Most of the top players first see action Tuesday and Wednesday, but the only two seeds in action Monday were upset. Peng Shuai beat 14th-seeded Ai Sugiyama 7-5, 6-4, and Virginie Razzano defeated No. 16 Karolina Sprem 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
