One win away from reaching her fourth Australian Open final, second seeded Maria Sharapova (Russia) takes on the sixth seed of the tournament in Na Li (China) this evening.
Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, will be the site for this women's singles semifinal match.
The winner will move on to face either top-seeded Victoria Azarenka (Russia) or 29th seeded American, Sloane Stephens, in the 2013 Aussie Open finals.
Opening serve for this Sharapova-Na Li showdown is scheduled for tonight at 9:30 p.m. EST (6:30 p.m. PST) on ESPN-2, following the men's doubles semifinal match between Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA) vs. Simone Bolelli/Fabio Fognini (Italy).
It comes as no surprise that the 2008 Australian Open champion is considered a huge favorite heading into tonight.
Sharapova is currently listed as a 1/4 [-400] favorite over Li, who’s a 2011 runner-up and a 3/1 [+300] underdog this evening.
These ladies have met 12 times in their careers with the Russian beauty winning eight of those encounters, and riding a three-match win streak.
Six of those meetings took place on hardcourt surface, where Sharapova holds a 5-1 edge over her Chinese counterpart.
The last time they met was last season in Miami, where the four-time Grand Slam champ prevailed in straight sets: 6-3 6-0.
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