Career Grand Slam holder – Maria Sharapova had a fantastic 2012, and has continued to play the same brand of tennis this year too. Maria, who made the semifinal at the Aussie Open last month was in scintillating form before she was ousted in straight sets by Li Na in that match.

The Russian continues to improve her fitness and game-play with every passing match but what is most important for the Russian at this stage is consistency, especially on serve. Sharapova has a perpetual problem with landing that first serve in, and committed one too many double faults in her previous match. Against Stosur today, Sharapova must keep her composure as it can at times be difficult to break the Aussie’s serve.

The Australian on the other hand has struggled all year long. Her performance at the Australian Open was rather disappointing and even in the tournaments preceding the Slam, she struggled to put in any form of consistent performances.

But something that might just work in the favour of the former US Open Champion is the fact that the courts here in Doha are quicker and her kick serve could really hurt the Russian, who isn’t the best mover on the court.

These two have battled a total of 13 times before and 11 of those have been won by Sharapova.