TOKYO, Jan 29 A one-sided defeat to Serena Williams in the Australian Open final is neith

TOKYO, Jan 29 (Reuters) A one-sided defeat to Serena Williams in the Australian Open final is neither here nor there to Maria Sharapova -- the Russian still deserves to be world number one.

''The rankings don't lie,'' the 19-year-old told Reuters ahead of this week's Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. ''I had a great end to last year.

''I'm excited to get to number one and hopefully I can keep it for many weeks to come.'' She admitted to having some mixed feelings, however, about reaching the summit of the women's game following a painful 6-1 6-2 thrashing by Williams in Melbourne at the weekend.

''Obviously after every loss you're disappointed,'' Sharapova said.

''As an athlete, it's never fun losing. But at the end of the day, I reached the final of a grand slam in my first tournament of the year.'' Sharapova won the tier one Pan Pacific Open in 2005 and quickly promised to make up for a surprise defeat by Martina Hingis in last year's semi-finals.

''Martina took me out last year,'' smiled Sharapova, flanked by her Swiss rival.

''Hopefully I can get some revenge this year in the final.'' Hingis is seeded two behind Sharapova as she bids to win a record fifth title at the $1.3 million tournament having won in Tokyo in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002.

''I've got to the final a few times here,'' said former world number one Hingis, now ranked sixth after reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals.

''Hopefully it will bring out the best in me again.'' Russia's Elena Dementieva, Serb Jelena Jankovic and Israel's Shahar Peer, who pushed Williams to the limit in the Melbourne quarter-finals, are also among a quality Tokyo field.

Reuters SAM RS1759