Maria Sharapova is ranked at number 12 in the world. On the other hand, Sabine Lisicki is ranked number 15 among the WTA rankings.

Sharapova had her fifth top season last year. She won two titles at Rome and Cincinnati. She also reached the finals at Miami and at Wimbledon. She withdrew from Brisbane this year due to a left ankle injury. She has just lost five games in three matches so far. She first beat Gisela Dulko, then cracked Jamie Hampton at the loss of a game and eliminated Anglique Kerber at the loss of three games.

Lisicki had a great 2011 as she won two titles at Birmingham and Dallas. She reached the semi-final three times at Wimbledon, Stanford and Bali. She started with a quarterfinal spot in Auckland and withdrew from Sydney due to an abdominal strain. At the Aussie Open, she beat Stefanie Voegele in three sets in the first round, stunned Shahar Peer in straight sets in the second round and defeated seventh seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round to set up a pre-quarterfinal match up against Sharapova.

Both the players have met two times before and the head-to-head stands at 2-0 in Sharapova’s favour.  The last time they met was in the semi-finals of Wimbledon last year where Sharapova won in straight sets. Sharapova has an aggressive forehand and can hammer serves with confidence. Lisicki can strike deep ground strokes and can angle serves at will. Sharapova should be able to come through in a three set battle.