Russian stunner Maria Kirilenko needs no introduction, especially to Indians. The glamour girl from Moscow has a reasonably good track record in India. A finalist at Hyderabad four years ago, she has always gone deeper into the tournaments held in the country.

The crowning glory for the 21-year-old Kirilenko came at the Sunfeast Open in Kolkata last September. En route to her second career title, the youngster overcame top-seeded Daniela Hantuchova - her fourth top-20 win of the season.

The Russian will be banking on her performance and familiarity with the conditions here to go all the way in the $600,000 Bangalore Open which begins on Monday.

"It has been special playing here in India. I have always done well. I like being here, I guess there is a special bond being in India. The people are nice and kind and it is a great place to be in," Kirilenko said after a practice session at the KSCA courts on Saturday.

"I am looking forward to the tournament and the season has shaped up well. I am moving well, shaping up well.

I hope to do well here," she said. "Serena and Venus are strong but then they are playing here for the first time. You never know, anything can happen. I know that I won't be playing them at least in the first two rounds as I am one of the seeded players."

Besides her exploits in Kolkata, the veteran Russian, aged only 21, came up with a string of good wins in the second half of the season. She defeated Jankovic (No 3) at San Diego, Marion Bartoli (No 11) at Los Angeles and Hantuchova (No 10) at Kolkata. At the start of the year, she had taken No 15 Shahar Peer in her stride at the Pan-Pacific event.

Having begun her season on a bright note, Kirilenko will be hoping to go deeper into the tournament here. The Russian reached her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open, defeating Anna Chakvetadze before falling to Hantuchova in a three-set thriller.

At Doha, she fell in the second round to Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues in three sets after leading 3-0 and 4-2 in the second set. Kirilenko was not duly concerned about the near misses, but is confident of doing well, if not going all the way, here.