The first spots in the women’s semifinals would be earned in Melbourne on Tuesday. The lineup featured a dream matchup on paper for observers and another featuring two players who had been no stranger to the semifinals of majors within the last year. Unfortunately, both matches turned out to be anticlimactic.

Makarova dominates Halep

A tired -looking Simona Halep met Ekaterina Makarova on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday, and on this day the No. 3 seed was no match for the Russian, falling 4-6 0-6.

In the first set, Makarova frustrated Halep by mixing up her groundstrokes and showing different looks. She placed the Romanian on the defensive, particularly from her forehand side. The Russian showed solid court coverage and added some timely volleys, creating a two-break advantage in the set. Halep struggled with an uncharacteristically high number of unforced errors and despite gaining a break herself, fell short in the set.

Midway through the second set, it was evident that Makarova had taken the wind out of Halep’s sails, and the 23-year-old appeared to throw in the towel. It was an unfortunate and surprising turn of events for a player who has been so solid in the last year. It begged the question as to whether she was ailing, worn down by the fortnight of action, or just overwhelmed by the Russian. Regardless, Makarova will advance to her second straight semifinal in a major, after a run at the US Open in September.

Makarova disposed of Halep in just an hour and nine minutes, and when the dust had settled, Halep had accrued 31 unforced errors to 15 winners. Makarova will face Maria Sharapova in the semifinals and gave some thoughts to her prospects against her. “Well, I never beat her, so it will be tough. Definitely she's a great fighter. Like here on the second round, she almost lost, but she turned around. I'm looking forward. I'm want to enjoy this time and want to rest and we'll see what happen in semis.”

Sharapova overpowers Bouchard

The second quarterfinal match in the women’s draw featured a highly anticipated matchup between Maria Sharapova and Eugenie Bouchard. And much like the first quarterfinal, it turned out to be a one-sided affair. Sharapova advanced to the quarterfinals, 6-3 6-2.

It was a nervous start from Bouchard, who quickly gave away a service break. Struggling through unforced errors and poor service games, the Canadian attempted to find her rhythm against the veteran. She finally stabilized her game but was unable to make a dent in the Sharapova serve, and the early break was all the damage that the No. 2 seed needed as she closed out the set.

Sharapova did not let her foot off the gas in the second set, continually pressuring Bouchard with big, powerful strikes. Playing at a very high level, she broke Bouchard’s serve early in the set. Meanwhile, the 20-year-old could make no inroads into Sharapova’s serve and was forced into a high number of unforced errors by having to go for bigger shots. Sharapova would close out the set and match in impressive fashion.

Sharapova owns a 5-0 advantage head-to-heard against Makarova.