Maria Sharapova

The Women of Tennis

A right shoulder injury last August forced Sharapova into a 9-month layoff, where she fell from World No. 1 to No. 126. She returned to singles play earlier this week in Warsaw and won her opening-round match in three grueling sets. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

More from this Slideshow

Maria Sharapova A right shoulder injury last August forced Sharapova into a 9-month layoff, where she fell from World No. 1 to No. 126. She returned to singles play earlier this week in Warsaw and won her opening-round match in three grueling sets. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Dinara Safina The 23 year-old Russian is currently the top-ranked lady on the WTA circuit. Safina won the silver medal in women's singles at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She is the younger sister of former World No. 1 men's player Marat Safin. (AP Photo/Daniel Maurer)
Serena Williams Currently ranked World No. 2, Serena is the most recent player, male or female, to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously. To date, she has won more career prize money than any other female athlete. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Elena Dementieva... Dementieva has won two Olympic medals in singles, including a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She is currently ranked No. 4 in the world. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle)
Jelena Jankovic Jankovic was ranked World No. 1 for 17 consecutive weeks until she was overtaken by Serena Williams earlier this year. The Serbian sensation was the year-end World No. 1 in 2008. She is currently ranked fifth in the world. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Venus Williams Venus has won more Olympic gold medals than any other tennis player (male or female) in history -- one in singles and two in women's doubles. She is currently ranked World No. 3. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Vera Zvonareva Russia's Vera Zvonareva won a bronze in singles for Russia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She is currently ranked World No. 6. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
Ana Ivanovic The Serbian bombshell is the former World No. 1. She is the reigning French Open singles champion and was the runner-up at last year's Australian Open. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Svetlana Kuznets... Currently ranked No. 7 in the world, Kuznetsova won the 2004 U.S. Open singles title by defeating fellow countrywoman Elena Dementieva in an all-Russian final in straight sets. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Victoria Azarenk... Belarus' Victoria Azarenka won the 2007 U.S. Open mixed doubles title with her partner Max Mirnyi. She also won the 2008 French Open mixed doubles title with Bob Bryan. She is currently ranked World No. 9. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Nadia Petrova Russia's Nadia Petrova has reached the French Open semifinals twice in her career, once in 2003 and again in 2005. She is currently ranked 11th in the world. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)
Caroline Wozniac... Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark achieved her career-high singles ranking of World No. 10 in May of this year when she reached the Madrid Masters finals. She is the only Danish woman in the Top 300 on the WTA Tour. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Agnieszka Radwan... Poland's Radwanska is currently ranked World No. 12. In 2005 she defeated Tamira Paszek of Austria to win the Girls' Singles Championship at Wimbledon. Her biggest career accomplishment came in 2007 when she won a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title, a first in history for a Polish player. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Marion Bartoli Bartoli has defeated two top-ranked WTA players in Grand Slam events: bJustine Henin at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships and Jelena Jankovic at the 2009 Australian Open. She is currently ranked World No. 13. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Flavia Pennetta Italy's Penetta has won six career WTA singles titles, all but one on clay. She is also one of only seven women to beat Venus Williams three consecutive times. She is currently ranked World No. 14. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Alize Cornet France's Cornet is a former World No. 11 who recently fell to World No. 21. She was seeded 15th at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and lost in the semis to eventual gold medalist Caroline Wozniacki. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Anabel Medina Ga... Medina Garrigues has won nine singles titles and 12 doubles titles, including the 2008 French Open with partner Virginia Ruano Pascual. She is currently ranked World No. 18. (AP Photo/Keystone, Walter Bieri)
Zheng Jie Jie is ranked World No. 15, the highest ranking that a Chinese player has ever reached. At the 2008 Wimbledon, Zheng defeated then-ranked World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic to become the first Chinese player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)
Dominika Cibulko... Cibulkova of Slovakia is a former World No. 3 at the junior level and is currently ranked No. 20 in the world. She went pro in 2005 and made her Grand Slam main draw debut at the 2007 French Open, where she reached the third round. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jacques Boissinot)
Kaia Kanepi Kanepi is currently ranked World No. 19. She reached the quarterfinals at the last year's French Open, but was fell to fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
Patty Schnyder Switzerland's Schnyder is the former World No. 7. She has defeated several World No. 1 players, including Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. She is currently ranked 17th in the world. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle)