Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams And More At US Open; Learn About the Women Athletes

The U.S. Open for tennis begins on Aug. 27 in Fresh Meadows Park, NY, and some big names in the sport will fight for their mark in the finals and hopefully for the big trophy win. Here is a look at some of the top contenders for the women's division:

Maria Sharapova won herself a silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics this summer and is back for another champion title. The 25-year old took home the French Open title in June and secured herself a Winbledon win in 2004 and the U.S. Open in 2006, according to Yahoo! News.  Since her 2006 victory, she has only gone past the third round once but she starts off the 2012 Open against Hungary's Melinda Czink and might prevail to move on one step closer to another win. The Russian player will seek her 28^th career title and if all else fails, she recently debuted a candy business called Sugarpova that she can depend on.

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Sharapova got silver at the London Olympics because Serena Williams took home the gold. USA's Williams took home actually two Olympic golds this year, for her singles and doubles play, along with one Grand Slam victory. If she wins in the U.S. Open, it will be her fourth and more specifically, it would give her 15 Grand Slam titles in all, according to the Bleacher Report. The 30-year old took both the Wimbledon and the Australian Open titles in 2010.

The older Williams sister, Venus, has competed in 13 U.S. Opens, winning the singles in 2000 and 2001 and the doubles in 1999 and 2009. She won 43 singles titles in her athletic career and 21 double titles, and ranked No. 1 for both the singles and doubles women's tournaments this summer, according to the official site of the 2012 U.S. Open. She is a fan favorite in votes of who will make it to the women's final this summer.

Samantha Stosur from Australia is the reigning U.S. Open winner in the single's game. Though she only has a total of three singles titles in her career, she won 23 doubles titles. Stosur went professional in 1999 and beat Serena Williams last year for the trophy in a 6-2, 6-3 victory. The 28-year-old is currently ranked four for the singles tournament, however, she might make a surprising pass at the finals and come out victorious for the second year in a row.

Kim Clinjsters won the singles the year before Stosur, in 2010, rounding off her singles titles to 41 throughout her entire career. The Belgium player has to date only five matches that she has lost since she went pro in 1997. Her first major competitions were in 1999, where she came in third in the U.S. Open and fourth at Wimbledon.

To learn about all the players, both men and women, click here.