27 January 2015 : Maria Sharapova brushed aside seventh seed Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets to set up an all-Russian Australian Open semi-final in Melbourne.
The 2008 champion, seeded second, won 6-3 6-2 in one hour and 18 minutes at a cool and blustery Melbourne Park.
Tenth seed Ekaterina Makarova beat third seed Simona Halep 6-4 6-0 in Tuesday’s opening match.
Tomas Berdych upset Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-0 7-6 (7-5), with Andy Murray facing Nick Kyrgios at 08:15 GMT.
Sharapova, 27, took her record against Bouchard, 20, to 4-0 with a clinical performance as the Canadian made 30 errors in 78 minutes.
“I thought I had a really good start,” the Russian said. “I kept my focus throughout the whole match. I didn’t feel that I had too many letdowns, which is important.
“When I did have a few slips I was able to come out with great first serves or really powerful returns.”
Bouchard said: “I felt under pressure the whole time, a bit on my back foot. That’s not how I want to play. I feel like I didn’t start well, and it kind of all went downhill from there.”
Source : BBC Sport