Sharapova Romps Into Australian Open Semifinals

MELBOURNE, Australia — After some unflinching words from her family, Maria Sharapova has been relentless on her opponents.

Sharapova, seeded second at the Australian Open, advanced to the semifinals here for the seventh time when she routed seventh-seeded Eugenie Bouchard, 6-3, 6-2 in their quarterfinal match Tuesday afternoon.

Sharapova has been dominant in her last three matches after needing to save two match points against 150th-ranked qualifier Alexandra Panova in the second round. Sharapova said she had been motivated in part by a critical phone call from her father and former coach Yuri Sharapov, who offered harsh critiques after the second-round scare.

Russian tennis cannot be considered at its peak, not when compared with stellar results in the past, as when Russian women won three Grand Slam singles titles in 2004 or swept the medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Makarova, who grew up watching her favorite players at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, said she still drew inspiration from that golden generation, including her favorite, Anastasia Myskina.

“Now it’s a little bit less of us,” she said. “I don’t know. I really wanted to be one of them when I was watching them and learning some things from them. I’m so happy that at these tournaments, I’m quite like they are.”

The New York Times