Gregory Gaultier, the new world number one, will attempt to convince himself that it is not really the World Open which starts here on Sunday - in a psychological ploy to win the title for the first time.

The superbly gifted but temperamentally-variable Frenchman says he will think of it as the Kuwait Open, to help prevent him freezing as he did in the final in Bermuda in 2007.

Gaultier was also unable to convert five match points in the most dramatic World Open final of them all, in front of the Giza pyramids in 2006 - though that was partly due to refereeing eccentricities.

This time the 26-year-old from Aix-en-Provence should enjoy a special boost to his confidence, as the World Open provides his first match since reaching the top spot a week go.

It is an achievement which, Gaultier insists, means that his career greatest goal has now been achieved, thus altering his view of the World Open.

"I have realised that it is just one tournament," he said. "But my objective has been to be world number one, to be as good as possible in every tournament.

"In the last 12 months I have reached seven finals, two semi-finals, and one quarter-final making me world number one. That was the main goal, rather than focussing on only one tournament as I used to be."

He added: "But I will not talk much about being number one. I am thinking about going to win, not even the World Open, but the Kuwait Open - to put me in the right frame of mind."

Gaultier's number one ranking has been achieved after fully 14 months in second place, with a trio of Egyptians - Amr Shabana, world number one for 33 months, Ramy Ashour, the World Open champion, and Karim Darwish, the 2009 number one till now, making life difficult.

They are likely to obstruct him again.

The Kuwaiti venue, at the remarkable Green island, an artificial paradise with 150,000 coloured shrubs and seedlings linked by 130 metres of passageway to the mainland, may favour the Egyptians.

"Whenever you play in the Middle East it helps Egyptians," Gaultier says.

"But I am good there too. And when I have my guys with me and my coach, I do pretty well. It should be a good adventure."

The timing of Gaultier's elevation creates an interesting parallel with his compatriot Thierry Lincou, who discovered the night before the 2003 World Open final in Lahore that he had become world number one.

This adversely affected the man from Marseille, who performed below his best the following day and needed another year before becoming world champion - but Gaultier wants to avoid that mistake.

Much may depend on whether he has fully recovered from a persistent thigh strain which caused his retirement against Shabana in the Hong Kong Open final, and which he has been attempting to remedy with new insoles to his shoes.

Gaultier hopes this works, not only for the sake of his greatest remaining goal but because this World Open's 277,000 dollars prize fund makes it the richest squash tournament ever.

He lines up as second seed because the seedings were made before the latest world rankings, will start against Alan Clyne of Scotland, and has a likely quarter-final against Nick Matthew, the fifth-ranked British Open champion from England.

Matthew, who injured an ankle at the world team championships in Odense a month ago, will compete on tour again for the first time in six weeks.

Gaultier's semi-final should be against Ashour, the defending champion. They had a mighty clash in Cairo at the Sky Open five weeks ago, Gaultier winning in five games.

His predecessor at the pinnacle, Darwish, lines up as top seed with a starter against Mansoor Zaman, the world number 49 from Pakistan, and the Egyptian may be buoyed by his recent success against Gaultier in the Sky Open final.

-Agencies-

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