Australian Open 2012 Results: Maria Sharapova Primed for Upset of Petra Kvitova

Maria Sharapova was nowhere near as good as she can be during her 6-2, 6-3 quarterfinal win over No. 56 Ekaterina Makarova.

Luckily for the fourth-ranked Sharapova, neither was Petra Kvitova, her semifinal opponent. 

Kvitova's erratic play allowed the 48th-ranked Sara Errani to stick close the entire match. Kvitova eventually won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, but the feisty Errani forced error after error from the big Czech. 

After winning the first set, Kvitova essentially fell apart in the second. She clearly became aggravated with Errani's defensive style of play and fell behind, 4-1. She eventually got things together and won five-straight games to take the match, but her weaknesses are now evident.

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Kvitova showed some significant focus issues (hitting her groundstrokes wide and long, and looking lost at times) and also revealed some anger (giving her racket a good slam to the ground after missing key shots), a contrast from her demeanor in previous rounds.

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If she plays like that against Sharapova, you can forget about her advancing to her second Grand Slam final.

With that being said, Sharapova needs to up her game as well.

She didn't struggle as mightily as Kvitova did, but against the inconsistent Makarova, Sharapova never looked comfortable. She committed 32 unforced errors compared to just 26 winners.

When it came down to it, she established herself as the better player with hard ground strokes and a good serve. She kept her cool and continued to pound away against Makarova. It wasn't pretty, but it was a win.

If these women's quarterfinals are any indication of how the semis will play out, Sharapova is ready to pull the upset and stake her claim as the new No. 1 seed.

Her skill is right on the same level as Kvitova's—both are strong, powerful players—but the Czech has some anger and focus problems. If something begins to go wrong, she's going to unravel. 

At 6'0", her strength is almost unrivaled by anyone else on the tour, but her mental and emotional strength are weak.

The "veteran" Sharapova (24 years old) will take advantage and run away in a straight-set, methodical win.