2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova takes on Belarusian Anastasia Yakimova for a place in the third round of the 2011 edition of the season's last Grand Slam, US Open, being played here at Flushing Meadows in New York, USA.

Former World No.1 Maria Sharapova is enjoying an incredibly successful season with a Grand Slam final and two premier level titles in Rome and Cincinnati. Seeded third at this year's event, Sharapova is playing great tennis at the moment, and has a title from the last fortnight she captured on American soil in Cincinnati. Sharapova's semifinal run in French Open also helped her strengthen her position in the top 10 and with a runner up finish at Wimbledon, the Russian announced her return to the elite in women's tennis. The opening round match came as a scare for the Russian star who was down a set and break against Britain's Heather watson before making a comeback to keep her title hopes alive.

Sharapova's opponent, Belarusian Anastasiya Yakimova is currently ranked 100 in the world and has no WTA singles titles to her name. Yakimova's most notable runs have come in Istanbul (2006) and Portoroz (2010). Her best Grand Slam performance came in the Australian Open's 2007 edition. Yakimova's strongest ally is her backhand and she admires Steffi Graf the most. Yakimova stretched Kim Clijsters to limits in the French Open first round for which she came into headlines recently. In the previous round, the Belarusian beat Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand after three sets of struggle.

Both players have competed only one match before and Sharapova registered win in it after a three set tussle. 

Sharapova can only hope to get better with every match passing since her serve is not giving her a helping hand. Although, in this encounter, Sharapova is likely to record a straight sets win.

TennisEarth.com's Pick - Maria Sharapova in two closely contested sets.