Maria Sharapova vs. Eugenie Bouchard: Score, Reaction from 2015 Australian Open

Maria Sharapova thoroughly outclassed Eugenie Bouchard in a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Australian Open on Tuesday in Melbourne.

In her previous match, Sharapova looked a little shaky. Although she beat Shuai Peng 6-3, 6-0, most agreed that she'd have to up her game in order to topple Bouchard.

The young Canadian had rarely been tested through the first four rounds. Most acknowledge Bouchard is the future of women's tennis; the only question is when she'll have her breakthrough.

Bouchard and Sharapova have often been spoken of in the same breath for a variety of reasons, not all of which are performance-based. Sharapova acknowledged that she's been through this scenario before.

"When I was coming up, I was compared to [Anna] Kournikova for many years in my career and still occasionally that name always comes up in interviews and articles," she said, per BBC Sport. "That's just part of it, part of the game, part of the business."

Monday was proof that Bouchard won't be overtaking Sharapova anytime soon. The 2008 Aussie Open champion was simply better in every aspect of the game.

Entering the match, Rolling Stone's Juan Jose Vallejo wrote that one of Bouchard's biggest weaknesses is her poor defense:

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For example, let's talk about Genie's ability to defend, which is a clear limitation. Why does she struggle with that aspect of the game? Bouchard is not a bad mover by any stretch, but she's also far from being explosive in the way Serena Williams or Angelique Kerber cover the court. And, like the rest of the WTA, she doesn't come close to Agnieszka Radwanska's almost supernatural ability to anticipate where her opponent's shots will go. Another issue that hinders Bouchard's game is her lack of easy power with her forehand and her backhand. Not having those easy swings makes it very difficult for her to generate consistent depth and pace when hitting the ball from defensive positions.

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Bouchard's defensive deficiencies were laid bare on Tuesday, with Sharapova working her all around the court and dictating the pace of the match. Sharapova really used her strength superiority to her advantage.

Sportsnet's Caroline Cameron noted that Sharapova's consistent offensive was preventing Bouchard from getting her timing down on her groundstrokes:

Another one of Bouchard's problems was her serve. She won only 58 percent of her first-service points and 40 percent of her second-service points in the first set. She also committed 20 unforced errors, which is unsustainable against a player as talented as Sharapova.

After looking so good before Tuesday, Bouchard was unraveling at the seams. Carole Bouchard felt that the 20-year-old was her own worst enemy in terms of playing style:

Dropping the first set obviously put Eugenie Bouchard behind the proverbial eight ball. ESPN Stats & Info illustrated just how high of a mountain Bouchard needed to climb:

The second set was merely more of the same, with Bouchard powerless to stop the onslaught. Late in the match, Cameron hoped Bouchard would find inspiration in the Seattle Seahawks' comeback win over the Green Bay Packers in the NFL playoffs:

Instead, Sharapova calmly closed out the match in short order. The Russian star was much improved from her fourth-round victory, especially on the serve.

Against Peng, Sharapova got only 45 percent of her first serves in. That figure rose 19 percentage points against Bouchard, and Sharapova dropped only 14 of her 50 service points the entire match. Bouchard didn't even have a single break-point opportunity in the second set.

Daniel Squizzato of MLSSoccer.com posited that Bouchard simply ran into the wrong opponent on the wrong day:

With the victory, Sharapova advances to the semifinals, where she'll meet fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova. Makarova hasn't dropped a set all tournament, and she's coming off a 6-4, 6-0 victory over third-seeded Simona Halep.

It should be a great match, but when Sharapova is playing this well, there's only one woman in the world who can stop her: Serena Williams. It will be interesting to see if the Australian Open gets its dream final of Sharapova vs. Williams.

Note: Stats are courtesy of AusOpen.com.