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The inevitable comparisons between Maria Sharapova – for many years the highest-paid sportswoman on the planet – and rising Canadian superstar Eugenie Bouchard are ramping up again ahead of their blockbuster quarter-final at the Australian Open.
The pair posted contrasting fourth-round wins on Sunday – Sharapova blitzing China’s Shuai Peng 6-3 6-0 and Bouchard overcoming a second-set blip to down unheralded Romanian Irina Camelia-Begu 6-1 5-7 6-2.
Sharapova has won all three of her previous encounters against Bouchard, who at 20 is seven years the Russian’s junior, the most recent a three-set thriller in the semi-finals at last year’s French Open.
But Bouchard insists she is better placed than ever before to turn the tables on the world No.2.
So to the fourth edition of the marketer’s dream match-up featuring the tall, blonde, photogenic and extremely talented duo.
“When I was coming up I was compared to (Anna) Kournikova for many years and still occasionally the name comes up in articles,” said Sharapova when quizzed about the perceived similarities between herself and Bouchard.
“That’s just part of it, part of the game, part of the business.
“It’s understandable. It is what it is.
“I said when I was still a teenager I didn’t want to be the next anyone – I wanted to be the first Maria Sharapova.
“And that’s how I’ve been through my whole career – we all want to create our own path.”
Sharapova said it was Bouchard’s aggressiveness and determination to dictate points which reminded her most of herself.
Bouchard advanced to the last eight after continuing her love affair with the Australian Open.
The seventh seed – who made it all the way through to the last four on debut at Melbourne Park last year – looked to be cruising to victory against Begu when she powered through the first set and held a 3-0 lead in the second.
The unseeded Romanian belatedly found her range, winning five straight games and claiming the set on her third opportunity courtesy of a double fault from Bouchard, only for the Canadian to regroup in the deciding set and advance to the eagerly-awaited showdown with Sharapova.
“It’s always great to play the best players in the world,” said Bouchard.
“We’ve had a couple of matches and a good match last year which was close.
“It was just a tough battle.
“But I’ve progressed a lot since then and I definitely want to keep playing my game no matter what, really take it to her and go for my shots.”
Russian No.10 seed Ekaterina Makarova also eased into the last eight with a 6-3 6-2 win over unseeded German Julia Goerges.
The 26-year-old Makarova is in the best form of her career, having reached the quarter-finals or better at each of the past three grand slams.
After dropping only 23 games in her four matches to date – all of them straight-sets wins – Makarova will play No.3 seed Simona Halep from Romania in the quarter-finals.
Halep defeated unseeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-4 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena on Sunday night.
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