It was the first time for the 31-year-old tennis court star to say out her intention to play in the Olympics.

Sugiyama, who lost the quarterfinals of women's doubles at the Australian Open earlier in the day, described playing in the Olympics as a challenge and said she is setting her sights on that and will be working hard out of the motivation.

Sugiyama also indicated that playing in the Olympics will help her happily conclude the tennis career.

Sugiyama and her partner lost the match for a bronze medal to their Argentine opponents at the 2004 Athens Olympics.