She may not have the weapons but Patty Schnyder more than makes up for it with her never-say-die spirit. The 29-year-old's forte is her consistency and she knows what it takes to remain at the top.

Though that (consistency) has deserted her so far this year, Schnyder will certainly hope to start firing during the $600,000 Bangalore Open that gets under way on Monday.

Barring Venus Williams, the southpaw -- who reached a career-high ranking of No 7 three years ago -- has wins over almost all the other top players. Ranked in the top-30 for over a decade, the 12th ranked Schynder has had a relatively slow start to the season.

The Swiss ace put the two early defeats -- Antwerp and Doha -- behind her and said she was looking forward to a good week at the Tier II WTA Tour event here. Schnyder got to work straightaway after landing late on Wednesday evening. After sweating it out under the harsh sun for over two hours on Thursday afternoon, Schnyder spoke to Deccan Herald on a variety of topics. Excerpts:

On her chances: The court plays really nice for my game. I have really big goals to go to the final and play my first final of the year here.

I like it (the courts). There is big bounce and the balls are really flying. I like it, it suits my game, especially my kick serve and my forehand. It's going to be tough to attack my forehand shots.

On the competition: Of course, the two Williams and Jankovic will be hard to beat. There are other players you have to be aware of too and be at your best to beat them.

The first round is always very tough because there are a lot young players, they don't have the ranking but they play good. You have to be ready from the first round onwards.

On lack of match play:  I would have liked to play deeper into the tournaments the last two weeks. Sadly, that didn't happen. But the good thing is I'm not too tired. I'm fit, I'm healthy and I'm early here which will help me prepare. It's also an advantage I didn't play so many matches!

On her game now:  I know my best was No 7, but I feel I could just be there. It takes a lot of healthy tournaments, good tournaments and also a little bit of luck. There is lot of competition, but I don't worry about it and try my best everyday and see how far it is going to go each week and see how far it is going to take me.

On her career:  I don't know. I'm sure I'll play this year and next year. I'll see how I feel later. It's been many years for me and it's been tough business. It's not easy to stay healthy and be really motivated. It's such a nice life, but 15 years is a lot of time!

On her best moment:  I have had so many! I cannot pick one. I had great wins almost every year. Beating Serena in America, winning my home tournament in Zurich, Fed Cup, there were so many, so many matches.

On her goals: Get back to top-10. Especially the next few weeks, I have nothing to defend. It is really a big goal for me to get back there.

It's just where you want to be, especially if you were there already and drop out then you really want to be back there.

On off-court plans here: (Laughs). You tell me, what shall I do? What shall I go visit? Shopping may be. No, I'm here for the tennis. If I've time I'll do it, but I really want to do well in the tournament.