Maria Sharapova will get ready to hit the court Monday afternoon as the 2012 Tennis U.S. Open gets ready to begin.
She comes into the final Grand Slam tournament of the year ranked No. 3 after a tough fourth-round bounce from Wimbledon, a tournament which she entered ranked No.1 in the world.
Currently, the No. 1 ranking belongs to Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams has been playing in the last couple of major tournaments like a No. 1 player. Williams took Wimbledon and the gold at the 2012 London Olympics.
Sharapova's first challenger at the U.S. Open will be Hungarian tennis player Melinda Czink. Czink, who has played 13 years of professional tennis has never made it past the 3rd round in a Grand Slam tournament. She has not participated in a U.S. Open since 2009.
Sharapova will be after her second U.S. Open title. She won the U.S. Open back in 2007 at the age of 20, but since then has not made it past the 4th round at the Open.
Despite the Russian's early dismissal from Wimbledon, Sharapova has had a pretty good year. She won the French Open and was the runner-up at the Australian Open.
Sharapova will be in charge of closing out the action from Arthur Ashe Stadium. Andy Murray is set to take the court at 1 p.m. ET, so expect Sharapova to begin playing at around 2:30-3 p.m. ET.
