Serena Williams confirmed she would make her long awaited comeback following knee surgery at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami next week.
"It means a lot to me to come back because I've been in a lot of pain watching others play while I've been out," Williams said in a teleconference on Tuesday.
"I want to give it my all. I've been feeling the hunger for quite some time."
The American has not played competitively since winning the Wimbledon crown last July. She underwent knee surgery in August and has been sidelined since then due to her slow rehabilitation.
She was unable to defend both her U.S. and Australian Open titles and during her absence, she also lost her world number one ranking.
Now ranked seventh in the world, the six-times Grand Slam champion said she is determined to reclaim the top spot from Belgium's Justine Henin-Hardenne.
"Maybe I have to work harder to get back to number one but I do like being there and don't like to see a different number next to my name," the 22-year-old said.
Williams admitted she might be nervous when she steps on court next week but doubts she will be sitting outside of the top five for too long.
"It's going to be an adjustment," she said.
"I've been away for some time and it would be naive to say there will be no adjustment. But If I didn't feel confident that I could get back to my level again, I would have no business returning."
