Sharapova of Russia
Sharapova of Russia serves to Kanepi of Estonia during their women's singles match at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane. (Reuters) Reuters

Maria Sharapova wasted no time hitting the hard courts at Melbourne Park. Australian Open TV shared the video of Sharapova practicing for the first time ahead of the 2014 Australian Open on its official account in YouTube.

Watch Sharapova in her practice session ahead of the tournament below:

 Video courtesy: YouTube/australianopentv

Sharapova was all fired up during her first practice session as she prepares herself for a second attempt to win the Australian Open title.

The 26-year-old Russian won her first Australian Open title in 2008 when she was only 21 years old. She was seeded fifth but she wasn't really that much loved by many. Still, Sharapova showed everyone that she is definitely a player to watch out for. She beat former World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the second round. Then she defeated Justine Henin in the quarterfinals, putting an end to Henin's 32-match winning streak. She beat Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals before crushing Ana Ivanonic in the finals to win the third Grand Slam title in her career.

Sharapova did not attempt to defend her Australian Open title in 2009 because she was still recuperating then from her shoulder injury. She came back to play in 2010, but lost to Maria Kirilenko during her first-round match. She suffered a few more defeats in the succeeding Australian Open tournaments. In 2012, she managed to reach the finals but lost to Victoria Azarenka. In the 2013 Australian Open, she started the tournament strong but later on lost to Li Na in the semifinals.

Aside from training, Sharapova has also been enjoying her stay in the land down under. She recently visited a Melbourne café where she received an odd request from a fan. She was handed the iPhone of one of her fans and been asked to take a selfie using the phone.

The tournament officially starts on Jan. 13, which means she still has a few more days to train and probably visit the best places in Melbourne.

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