Venus Williams has warned that she and sister Serena still share the dream of again winning Wimbledon and ruling the world of women's tennis despite their long absence from the game.
The Americans are back in action at Eastbourne this week in the Aegon International, the traditional curtain-raiser to the All-England Championships.
Serena, 30 in September, has been out of action since winning the title for a fourth time a year ago and having a blood clot removed from her lung in March following a foot injury.
Venus, 31 on Friday, returns having been sidelined since her retirement from the Australian Open in the third round because of a hip-muscle problem. She said: "It is crucial for us to be playing these matches. I never had any idea when Serena would be back. With her the priority was always just to be healthy again. After what happened the focus was always to stay healthy. You have to have priorities in life. But we always believed in ourselves and our ability to win matches.
"That has always been a huge plus for us and now the focus has been on listening to doctors' advice and being smart in our preparation." Venus has won five Wimbledon singles titles, one more than Serena who leads her 13-7 in grand slam crowns. She insists they both have their sights set on winning both tournaments over the next few weeks. She said: "In terms of winning tournaments, that's what we are here for, not just [the odd few] results.
"We are here to win two titles [Eastbourne and Wimbledon] and that's what we aim for every time. No matter who it is across the other side of the net, I just want to beat her and move on.
"I'm very excited to be back. I love playing. It's my job but I still love being a professional athlete – which is an honour.
"I don't know if being out for a while will give me some freshness and an edge. I've had some tough injuries and some frustrating moments. I've missed tennis and I hope it has missed us. I'm feeling pretty fit and it is crucial for us to be playing these matches."
Ana Ivanovic bowed out of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham in the semi-finals, losing 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 to Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova, who will meet Sabine Lisicki in the final after the German defeated the third seed, Peng Shuai.
The British No1, Elena Baltacha, reached her first final of the year in Nottingham, where a 6-2, 6-2 win over Canada's Stephanie Dubois earned her a meeting on Sunday with Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic, ranked 92 in the world, 18 places below the Briton.