Maria Sharapova: Revenge Will Come Easily for Sharapova vs. Petra Kvitova

Maria Sharapova is playing better than I expected her to at the 2012 Australian Open. She's gotten all the way to the semifinals, dropping just a single set in the process.

The Sharapova we're seeing looks a lot like the old, pre-shoulder surgery Sharapova. She's serving with authority, and her return game has been as solid as a rock. Aside from that one lost set against Sabine Lisicki in the fourth round, she's made it look easy.

Come to think of it, I haven't seen Sharapova play this well since Wimbledon last year, where she made her way to the final without dropping a single set.

And then she promptly got beat in straight sets by Petra Kvitova.

Sharapova and Kvitova will square off again in the semifinals Down Under in Melbourne, and Kvitova is as big a threat now as she was at Wimbledon last year. She's on something of a hot streak, and she too has only lost one set at Melbourne.

But I'm picking Sharapova to win anyway. As good as Kvitova has been, she hasn't been perfect.

The one thing Kvitova hasn't done at the Australian Open is make it easy on herself. For the most part she's been brilliant, but there have been other times where she's made things much more interesting than they should be.

To give you an idea, she committed a ridiculous 44 unforced errors against Sara Errani in the quarterfinals, and she made 48 against Carla Suarez Navarro way back in the second round.

Kvitova was able to bear down and win both matches, but not before she made it apparent that she has a tendency to lose focus. Fortunately for her, she's been an absolute terror when she's been able to maintain her focus.

Kvitova won't be able to get away with any sloppy play against Sharapova. Even if all things are equal, I'm not convinced Kvitova is that much better than Sharapova, so it behooves Kvitova to keep things equal by not committing too many avoidable mistakes.

Aside from that, Sharapova and Kvitova are a very good match for one another. In the end, this match will be ruled by the same thing that rules all matches: motivation.

That's where I give Sharapova the edge. She's looked motivated all tournament to this point, and she has plenty of incentive to beat Kvitova so she can even the score after her loss at Wimbledon last year.

I expect a fast start for Sharapova too, which will be nothing out of the ordinary. With one exception, she has dominated in the first set at the Australian Open, pounding opponents into submission and then finishing them off. She'll focus her energy on winning the first set easily, and she will.

After that, Sharapova will keep pressing the attack, which will be too much for Kvitova.

Prediction: Sharapova in straight sets.