Continue
Maria Sharapova is keen to to end her grand slam drought at Flushing Meadows after fully recovering from a shoulder injury which nearly ended her career.
After having surgery on her shoulder in 2008, the three-time grand slam winner spent several months away from the court and saw her ranking drop as low as 126th.
Now Sharapova is feeling confident in her serving action and has risen back up the standings to find herself ranked 16th going in to this year's US Open.
In the past few months the Russian has made the finals of the Stanford Classic and the Cincinnati Open and is feeling confident of ending her run of two and a half years without a major success.
"I have great memories of New York as well as tough ones. Having to miss it two years ago because of my shoulder and then coming back last year with pressure - that wasn't easy," she told the Telegraph.
Sharapova's last grand slam success came at the Australian Open in 2008 but the 23-year-old is upbeat about her chances of repeating her US Open win in 2006.
"In New York it's all about the buzz, the craziness, the rivalries and the night matches," Sharapova said. "It's exhilarating. I want to perform my best at the Open and peak there."
Last year Sharapova returned to Flushing Meadows and struggled to find her best form with a new service motion. However, having beaten Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the last few months, the former world number one will hope to continue her good from in New York.
