Victoria Azarenka will try to ignore her status as defending Australian Open champion when she gets her campaign under way at Melbourne Park.

The world number one meets Romania’s Monica Niculescu tomorrow as she bids to repeat her feat of 12 months ago, when she landed her first grand slam title.

Rather than dwell on the past, though, the Belarusian is simply focusing on starting 2013 in positive fashion.

“I’m not here to defend the title, I am here to win, to play tennis,” she said.

“It’s my position, my mentality going into and starting the tournament.”

Azarenka admits, however, that her win last year, when she crushed Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-0 in the final, proved a turning point in her career.

She said: “I always thought of myself as a good player but that mental edge I had made the difference. It definitely helps to bring a lot of inner confidence, knowing you can do it.”

Despite being top of the world rankings and the defending champion, Azarenka is not the title favourite. That honour belongs to Serena Williams who has emerged victorious in 52 of her last 54 matches.

Her form has prompted talk of the American targeting a Grand Slam this season. But Williams insists becoming the first woman to achieve the feat since Steffi Graf in 1988 is a tough ask.

She said: “That’s an incredible goal. It hasn’t been done since the 80s. I don’t know if I can do it. Maybe someone else can, we’ll see, but it’s tough to say.”

Sharapova opens proceedings on Rod Laver Arena today when she takes on Russian countrywoman Olga Puchkova.