The most talked about matchup of the 2015 Australian Open on the women's draw between tennis' established royalty and the young want-to-be was no contest. Maria Sharapova schooled Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-2 on her way to her seventh semifinal. The five-time Gland Slam champion who was almost eliminated on day two in Melbourne is now just two victories away from her second title down under.
Sharapova did drop a set to Bouchard at last year's French Open, but on the hard court, there was little doubt who was in control of almost every point. Sharapova used her razor sharp serve to throw Bouchard off her game, then with every ground shot, Sharapova's power was too much for her 20 year old opponent. This was of course part of Sharapova's strategy.
"I had to have a really good performance against Genie," explained Sharapova."I knew she was going to go at it and be an aggressive player. I try to take that away from her and I did a really good job of that today."
Indeed she did. While the talented Canadian did manage to retain her composure and show signs of future greatness, she was no match for the intensity of the proven champion. The two are incredibly similar, both on and off the court. Both are strikingly beautiful, aggressive players who have one game, hit hard and control the point. But it was clear that age and experience prevailed. While Bouchard proclaimed before the match that she had progressed a lot since their last meeting, it's clear she still has a long way to go to beat the top players when they're at their best. When the two shock hands after the match, there were no words exchanged and little eye contact, easy to see there is no love lost between these two. One semifinal is set and it will be an all Russian affair with Sharapova facing 10th seed Ekaterina Makarova. While it should be a good match, the next most awaited matchup has Sharapova on a collision course with Serena Williams and all Bouchard and the rest of the up and comers can do is watch and learn.
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