Not many people in tennis knew who Ekaterina Makarova was prior to the Wimbledon tuneup at Eastbourne in 2010. Ranked outside the top 100, she qualified for the main draw and proceeded to defeat five top-20 players to win the event: Flavia Pennetta, Nadia Petrova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Samantha Stosur and Victoria Azarenka in the final. In less than a week, it was now perfectly acceptable to list Ekaterina Makarova in the same sentence as Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Justine Henin and Lindsay Davenport.

Since then, the Moscow native has found herself perfectly at home in cities that end in “-bourne.”

Makarova willed herself to her fourth consecutive second-week showing at the Australian Open (in, shock, “Melbourne”) with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Monica Niculescu on Saturday. The Romanian's unconventional game has slain some of the biggest hitters on the WTA, with her slice forehand delivering more knockout blows than David's slingshot. This week, Niculescu scored a win over Shahar Peer before luring No. 15 seed Sabine Lisicki into her web. Makarova, who possesses her own unique craftiness as a left-hander, didn't appear overly phased as the kitchen sink was repeatedly thrown at her. Then again, she doesn't usually appear over phased by much anyway.

Calm and impressive performances have categorized Makarova's performance Down Under over the past three years. She first made some noise at Melbourne Park in 2011, when unseeded. She upset Ana Ivanovic in an epic 3-6 6-4 10-8 encounter in the opening round and reached the fourth round before losing to the eventual champion, Kim Clijsters. Unseeded again in 2012, Makarova put together an even more impressive run, beating Vera Zvonareva in the third round and stunning Serena Williams in the fourth round, losing just five games. With wins over Marion Bartoli and Angelique Kerber in 2013, Makarova matched her career-best result before falling to Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals for the second straight year.

Prior to this Australian Open, seven women had scored wins over both Williams sisters in grand slams: Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic and Maria Sharapova. With her come-from-behind 2-6 6-4 6-4 win over Venus in the first round this year, Makarova joined that exclusive bunch. She is the only member of that club never to be ranked No. 1.

In the other three majors, Makarova has not been able to capture the same magic on the singles court as she has in Melbourne. Having been a top-20 player, she's only reached the fourth round at the other three majors twice to date. In doubles, however, she is a two-time slam champion, having won the mixed doubles at the US Open in 2012 with Bruno Soares and the women’s doubles at Roland Garros last season with Elena Vesnina.

On Sunday, Makarova will face off against Li Na, the woman who defeated her in the quarterfinals at the US Open a year ago, for a place in the last eight. Makarova has never beaten Li in four career meetings, but three of the four have gone three sets. But none of these matches have taken place in a city called “-bourne,” and the Russian might fancy her chances a little more come Sunday.