Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain is the second seed in Qatar. The World No 10 spoke to journalists ahead of his match today against Croatian Borna Coric.
Excerpts:

Q: You had a great season last year. You had a breakthrough season. You reached the top 10, so did you exceed your expectations and what are your thoughts for the new season? Do you have any targets on winning a Grand Slam, reaching the top 5 rankings?
A: Yeah. It was a very, very good season, last one. For the new one, I hope to continue improving. I think the most important thing is to continue improving my tennis, my confidence on my game. I worked very hard this preseason and I am very excited to start the new season because I think that I can do it better than last year.

Q: Any specific target in the rankings or any particular skill sets that you worked on in the preseason?
A: Of course I would like to continue in the top 10. It would be fantastic to finish the year again in the top 10 and to play the Masters Finals again. We know that is really difficult. There are a lot of players who were injured and now they are kind of starting again, like Murray, Djokovic; it will be fun to start the new season.

Q: Can you tell us what you learned last year about yourself? What did it teach you? Was it a surprise for you that you did so well or did you expect that of yourself?
A: It was a surprise. When I started the last season, my goal was to finish the season around top 20 and in three months, I was top 20. So we had to change our goals and the season was really, really good. I feel really comfortable on court. I feel really comfortable playing early matches. And I thought that my level was improving all the time.
But the important thing for me is to continue improving my level, you know. We know that the last season is difficult to repeat, but we are here to do it.

Q: A lot of the focus this year or the coming year is on the – outside the big four players because of their injuries and their age. Do you think players from around your ranking and yourself can win a Grand Slam this year and do you think you can win a Grand Slam this year?
A: I think that is a possibility, you know. Of course if Rafa, Federer, Murray or Djokovic play at their best level, it will be very difficult for us to win a Grand Slam. But if we continue improving – because, for example, Dimitrov or Goffin are playing really good and finished the season really good. Why not me? If the big four don’t play their best tennis, we will have a chance for sure.