Brown was runner up to New Zealander Shelley Kitchen last year after taking out the title in 2006.

Kitchen won’t be a starter this time around, preferring to play a tournament in Singapore instead.

Brown will be the number one seed but says she doesn’t feel any additional pressure about being the tournament favourite.

“Not really,’’ she replied.

“I still going to have to play well to win and I don’t think there’s any more pressure by being No 1.’’

Brown was rated No 2 last year behind Kitchen.

At this stage she’s more concerned about a new scoring system that will be introduced into the game. This, she believes, will cut the duration of games as each winning shot will be rewarded with a point.

“I think it will be good for the game,’’ Brown added.

She’s currently ranked 13 in the world. Victory in her country’s major championship won’t help her improve this ranking.

“The points I’d get from winning will probably help me stay 13,’’ she explained.

Brown could have bypassed the Australian, instead concentrating on an event that would elevate her position in the world.

“But I want to win the Australian for the prestige,’’ she said.

Brown says she’s in good form, having just returned from Kuala Lumpur where she was a quarter finalist in the Malaysian Open, beaten by her nemesis Kitchen in four sets.

Qualifying matches started yesterday and Brown will have her first game tomorrow.

The final is scheduled for Sunday.

This will be the start of a busy schedule that will see Brown playing in the Australian doubles and mixed doubles championships in Melbourne where she expects to do ‘reasonably well.’

Then it’s off to New Zealand for exhibition matches before she jets back to Europe.

Brown will spend the rest of the year in Europe where she’ll be based in Amsterdam.

“I should be back in Australia by next May,’’ she said.

By then, she’s hoping to have cracked a spot in the world’s top 10.