World No. 3 Maria Sharapova will start her campaign in Paris with a second round clash against Chanelle Scheepers

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Maria Sharapova will get back to action on Wednesday with a second round matchup against South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers in the WTA Paris Open. After losing a one-sided Australian Open final against Victoria Azarenka, the Russian got back to winning ways at the weekend with a straight sets victory over Silvia Soler-Espinosa in the Fed Cup.

“It was tough in the beginning as I felt a little bit nervous having not really played well last year,” explained Sharapova, who had been beaten by Virginie Razzano almost a year ago when representing Russia. “I really wanted to change that result and I just concentrated on my game despite not knowing too much about my opponent.”

With Sharapova back on form, we can expect her to get past Scheepers in a fairly straightforward manner. The world No. 44 has made a decent start to the season, but she’ll have her work cut out in Paris. Sharapova, on the other hand, will be looking to use this contest as a springboard for a title challenge.