Battle of the Russian Ovas

In the first match Errani set the scene for some loud vocals and I guess Maria Sharapova would not disappoint on that front. However, Sharapova had more importantly not disappointed on the tennis front at the 2012 Open, stamping her dominance in the first three rounds before steadying when under threat against her toughest opponent Lisicki in the fourth. We expected Sharapova to appear before us today - after all she is seeded four and is a former champion. Her competition for a semi final berth is the surprise element in the lineup. Ekaterina Makarova, who made the fourth round last year, entered this year unseeded and expected to have flown out of Melbourne before now.

Games were one all with Sharapova winning clearly and Makarova needing to save multiple break points. Ekaterina coped with Serena but probably assisted by the American not fully on her game. Today Maria was on from the start. It only took the fourth game for Sharapova to flex her vocal chords and racquet strings and take Ekaterina to the cleaners. 3-1 and almost flying, hitting an exquisite range of shots that only the world's elite dare to attempt and can pull off with repeated success.

Makarova hung in there - by her finger nails - and remained just the one break adrift. Maria was ravenous though and wanted another feed of the tasty Makarova service offering. At 2-5 she again feasted and satisfied her short term hunger with the first set 6-2. The off forehand, in fact any type of forehand you like to mention, came off the Sharapova racquet with the sweetness of a Strauss waltz meshed with the power of a Ferrari engine.

Set two began in similar fashion with the first two games on serve. Against the flow, Makarova achieved the first break and hopes were raised that this match may extend further than the expected straight sets. An angry Maria said no to that suggestion and promptly broke Ekaterina's serve once again, together with her hopes, dreams and heart to lead 4-2 with serve to come.

2-5 and 30-40 but Ekaterina saved a match point and forced the 4th seed to serve for the semis. The attractive young woman with the equally unattractive shriek had few dramas with the task, and won her match 6-2 6-3. Petra Kvitova in the semis, a replay of Wimbledon Final 2011.