Our stats analyst Omair is already famous for his statistical articles and now he's inspired Ludolf, another reader of Women's Tennis Blog and fan of tennis numbers, to contribute his take on the WTA rankings, i.e. he compared the actual rankings with the performance of players at the biggest events – Grand Slams and WTA Championships. Enjoy!

The WTA ranking does not rank properly the strength of players in the sense of the ability to win a match or a tournament. The main reason is that it is cumulative and therefore underestimates players without a sufficient number of tournaments. We need to compute an average to avoid this. Moreover, the WTA ranking considers tournaments with weights not depending on the quality of players on them.

To achive the above-mentioned goal it seems to be more appropriate to take the average result from majors and the WTA Championships, the tournaments where the best players are almost always present. By the result of a player we mean the number of her losses (including the rounds which she did not achieve), i.e. 0 for the winner, 1 for the defeated finalist, 2 for defeated semifinalists, and so on. The results for the last 52 weeks are presented in the table, completed by the WTA ranking (after the Australian Open) for comparison. (FO: French Open, W: Wimbledon, USO: US Open, WTA: WTA Championships, AO: Australian Open)

It is not a surprise that Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters reached much better position than their WTA ranking. It should be noted that the average results of these players (and some others, too) are not relevant in the same degree as of the other players due to a small number of tournaments they took part in. For instance, had Kim Clijsters reached the next round at the French Open, she would have taken the 6th position with the average of 3.50. Also, Samantha Stosur and Agnieszka Radwanska got significantly worse result than their WTA ranking.

We can conclude that the first three players are significantly better than others, except maybe Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters. This is in a good correlation with the WTA ranking, which need not be true in general.

There are some weak points of this average result. First, rather small number of tournaments is considered, hence the average has a rather big deviation. This has been already pointed out for Kim Clijsters. Let us also note that the first three players have the smallest possible differences. Also, it does not describe the actual level of players but an average in past 52 weeks.

What do you think of this perspective? It's nice to have one more approach, but as Ludolf himself stated, it still has many flaws and the fact that only five tournaments are taken into account, it's pretty limited. Plus, almost all the best players showed up at the tournaments analyzed, but still it's "almost". (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

The status of a new WTA number one and a Grand Slam champion brought all the attention to Victoria Azarenka and people started digging more info about the Belarusian, particularly asking me about her boyfriend whom she mentioned in her Australian Open trophy speech:

I would like to thank my team—you guys have been supporting me for so long and believing in me, and it made me realise that I can believe in myself and I can finally raise this trophy. I want to thank my parents, who are watching for sure now, my friends, my boyfriend and my grandmother, the person who inspires me the most in my life.

So who is Victoria Azarenka's boyfriend?

His name Sergei Bubka (see his closeup photo here). He is a 24-year-old Ukrainian pro tennis player residing in Monte Carlo, just like his girlfriend. Currently his ATP ranking is No.157, the highest was No.145, and he is yet to win an ATP title in either singles or doubles.

Sergei's nickname is "Bubka Junior" because his father shares the same name and is a well-known pole vaulter who won 6 consecutive IAAF World Championships, an Olympics gold and broke the world record for men's pole vaulting 35 times. Sergei's mother, Liliya, is a former rhythmic gymnast.

According to his ATP Tour profile, Sergei's idols growing up were Michael Jordan, Andrei Medvedev and Marat Safin. His hobbies include watching movies, football, golf and snowboarding. If Sergei didn't pursue a tennis career, he would have "studied business and then worked in that area, or team sports".

DeShawn Besabella, thanks for the trophy speech transcript! Forty Deuce, thank you for the photo!

A few days before the Australian Open I found some interesting things regarding the winners of the Australian Open warm-up events and their performance at the Australian Open that year. There are four warm-up events which pave the way for the players to get into some form for the first Grand Slam of the year:

• Brisbane
• Auckland
• Hobart
• Sydney

Let's have a look at how well this year's winners performed at the Australian Open and how they compared to the winners of previous years and their performances at the Australian Open that year. Please note that for this article I used the results of Sydney and Auckland from 1988 onwards, since it was from 1988 that all the players played from the first round of the 128 player draw for the Grand Slam.

BRISBANE

• Best Australian Open result in the respective year: quarterfinals
• 2012: Kaia Kanepi won Brisbane and lost in the second round of the Australian Open

The Brisbane tournament started way back in 1997, and was known as Gold Coast back then. The name of the tournament was changed in 2009 to the Brisbane International. This year the Brisbane event went Premier. The first ever winner of the tournament back in 1997 was Elena Likhovtseva who defeated Ai Sugiyama in the final. Elena Likhovtseva could not carry on the momentum to the Australian Open and lost in the first round, while Sugiyama lost in the second round of the Australian Open that year.

The best result a Brisbane winner so far had at the Australian Open was a quarterfinal showing. Three players achieved that feat. Venus Williams was the first Brisbane player to reach the Australian Open quarterfinal back in 2002 when she won the Brisbane event. Venus lost to 8th-seeded Monica Seles in three sets. Patty Schnyder in 2005 and Petra Kvitova in 2011 followed in the footsteps of Venus Willaims and went on to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open after winning the event in the respective years. Schnyder lost in three sets to 19th-seeded Nathalie Dechy, while Kvitova lost in straight sets to second-seeded Vera Zvonareva.

Kaia Kanepi won the Brisbane event this year. Based on the history of the Brisbane winners and their performance at the Australian Open, Kanepi's chances of making it out the second round were 67%.

Twice in the tournament's 15-year history has the Brisbane winner lost in the second round, Kanepi with her second round showing this year made it thrice in the 16-year history of the tournament. Many dubbed Kanepi as the dark horse for the Australian Open after her strong showing at the Brisbane event, however, Kanepi could not carry that momentum and fell victim of Ekaterina Makarova, who would go on to crush Serena Williams, five-time Australian Open champion, in the fourth round.

Brisbane winner has yet to move beyond the quarterfinal stage of the Australian Open, and with the event going Premier this year, this statistic will for sure change in the years to come. Although, I had hoped that this statistic will change this year since the field at Brisbane was very strong with the likes of Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Samantha Stosur.

AUCKLAND

• Best Australian Open result in the respective year: semifinals
• 2012: Zheng Jie won Auckland and lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open

The ASB Classic event has been going on for quite some time. However, as mentioned earlier, I for this article, have taken the results from 1988 onwards since it was from 1988 that at a Grand Slam event all the players had to play from the very first round in a draw of 128 players.

From 1988 onwards, in the past 24 years only one Auckland winner has made it past the fourth round and she went on to reach the semifinals. She was Elena Dementieva back in 2009. Dementieva won the ASB Classic event and then went on to win the Medibank International in Sydney in 2009. Going into the Australian Open that year Dementieva was one of the three women who had a chance to grab the top spot based on their showing at the Australain Open, however, she was defeated in straight sets in the semifinals by the eventual champion Serena Williams.

Zheng Jie won the ASB Classic event this year by defeating Flavia Pennetta in the final (Pennetta retired in the final). Entering into the Australian Open, Zheng had only 21% chances of making it out of the third round based on the history of the performance of the past winners of ASB Classic at the Australian Open that year. Zheng carried that momentum into the Australian Open and defeated 23rd seed Vinci in the second round for a third round meeting with 9th seeded Marion Bartoli. It seemed Zheng's run would end since Bartoli was in great form, but Zheng proved too good for Bartoli and made quick work of Bartoli by defeating the 9th seed in straight sets for a place in the fourth round of the Australian Open. However, Zheng lost in the fourth round making it 24th time in the past 25 years that the Auckland winner failed to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals. However, all the credit goes to Zheng for her brave performance at the Australian Open where she routed two seeded players, one of whom was a Top 10 player.

HOBART

• Best Australian Open result in the respective year: quarterfinals
• 2012: Mona Barthel won Hobart and lost in the third round of the Australian Open

Hobart event was first organized back in 1994. Mana Endo was the first ever winner of Hobart. She defeated Rachel McQuillan in the final. Endo went on to reach the second round of the Australian Open, while McQuillan made it to the third round of the Australian Open that year.

During the 18-year history of the tournament, only six players have made it out of the third round. While four of those lost in the fourth round, only two players, in the tournament’s 18-year history, have made it to the quarterfinal stage of the Australian Open in the respective year. Not a single Hobart winner has made it past the quarterfinal stage of the Australian Open. Dominique van Roost was the first Hobart winner to make it to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open back in 1997. She retired in her quarterfinal match against 14th-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez while trailing 5-7 0-4. Anna Chakvetadze was the second and only other Hobart winner to make it to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. She did that in 2007, she was defeated in two tight sets by top seed and eventual finalist Maria Sharapova.

By winning Hobart this year, Mona Barthel became the first qualifier to win a WTA title since Austria's Tamira Paszek won Quebec City in September 2010. Mona Barthel entered the Australain Open with more than 50% chances of making it out of the first round based on the performance of the winners of the past 18 years at the Australian Open. She did make it out of the first round and defeated 32nd seed Petra Cetkovska in the second round to book a third round meeting with Victoria Azarenka. Barthel did put up a good fight in the second set against Azarenka but the eventual Australian Open champion was too good for Barthel. So, the Hobart winner went down in the third round this year.

SYDNEY

• Best Australian Open result in the respective year: winner
• 2012: Victoria Azarenka won Sydney and won the Australian Open

Sydney finalists have had a very rich history at the Australian Open, with three Sydney winners going on to win the Australian Open and four Sydney runner-ups going on to claim the Australian Open trophy during the past 24 years. In addition, only once did the Sydney winner lose in the first round. It was back in 1995 when Gabriela Sabatini lost in the first round of the Australian Open after winning the Sydney title.

Victoria Azarenka won the Sydney title this year and while entering the Australian Open she had 79% chances of making it to the quarterfinals or better of the Australian Open, based on the performance of the past Sydney winners at the Australian Open. Three players during the past 24 years who had won the Sydney event went on to win the Australian Open. The three players were Monica Seles (1996), Martina Hingis (1997) and Justine Henin (2004). Victoria Azarenka with her victory at the Australian Open this year made it four players to win the Sydney and the Australian Open trophies the same year in the past 25 years.

Monica Seles, when she won Sydney and Australian Open to kick start her 1996 campaign, ended the year as world No.2. Martina Hingis, who won Sydney and Australian Open in 1997 ended the year as world No.1. Justine Henin who started her 2004 campaign with back-to-back titles at Sydney and the Australian Open ended the year at No.8. Where will Azarenka end this year which has seen her reach No.1 ranking, win Sydney and her maiden Grand Slam? Will she follow in the footsteps of Seles, Hingis or Henin or will she carve her own path? (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

In early December 2011, Ricardo Sanchez was super excited to start working with Caroline Wozniacki, but the cooperation has already come to an end and all it will be remembered for is Wozniacki's failure to win her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and her actual fall to No.4 in the rankings following the quarterfinal loss at the tournament, after reigning the top spot for most of the time since October 2010.

The cause of the split is that the new coach couldn't find his way in the confines of the already established system of Wozniacki and her father Piotr. In simple words, Piotr had his own way of coaching and Ricardo was supposed to adapt to it, rather than to install his way of work. The two systems clashed, the outcome was that Caroline was confused and Piotr asked Ricardo to leave. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Today is a big day for women's tennis, as we have a new number one – Victoria Azarenka. The Belarusian dethroned Caroline Wozniacki from the top position by winning her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open over the weekend. Let's see the numbers behind Azarenka's 6-3 6-0 victory over Maria Sharapova in the Melbourne final. Thanks, Omair, for contributing another statistical analysis to Women's Tennis Blog.

When Maria Sharapova walked on the Centre Court at Wimbledom last year, she intended to complete her comeback from shoulder injury by winning the tournament that she had won back in 2004 at the age of 17. However, Petra Kvitova had other plans. Sharapova ended up losing the Wimbledon final and hence a chance to complete her comeback. In the Australian Open final, as Sharapova walked onto the Rod Laver Arena, she knew she had another chance to complete her comeback. Last year at Centre Court it was against young gun Kvitova, and this year at Rod Laver Arena it was against another youngster, Azarenka.

There is a remarkable similarity between the two scenarios. It was Kvitova's first major final (before making the final, it was Kvitova's second Grand Slam semifinal appearance, the first one coming at Wimbledon 2010, where she lost to the eventual champion Serena Williams in the semis). The same was true here for Azarenka. It was her first major final in her second attempt at the semifinals (her last semifinal appearance came last year at Wimbledon where she also lost to the eventual champion, Kvitova).

I had picked Sharapova to win the Wimbledon last year, given the fact that it was Kvitova's first major final, added by the fact that Sharapova had the experience with her and she had played at that stage before. Still, Kvitova came out at the top. A remarkable similarity happened at this year's Australian Open. However, this year I picked Azarenka to win the trophy. There were a lot of similarities in this year's Australian Open final and last year's Wimbledon final, and so was the result. Azarenka came out at top ousting the 2008 Australian Open finalist in one of the most one-sided finals at the Australian Open.

It was Sharapova who started the match on fire, and it was Azarenka who was shaky and nervous at the start of the match throwing in two double faults in the opening game to hand Sharapova her first break. Sharapova held her serve to go up 2-0. Azarenka held and then broke Sharapova to bring the match back to serve. Sharapova while serving at 2-3 served her way out of deuce, by serving an ace wide and an ace down the T to hold her serve, which would have been her last hold of serve. From there on it was all Azarenka, it felt like it was Azarenka who was a three-time Grand Slam champion and Sharapova was the first time Grand Slam finalist. Azrenka took the first set 6-3 and bageled Sharapova in the second set.

Azarenka held her composure beautifully, showing that she is going to be a major force in the upcoming year. A great start of the year for Azarenka who kept her 2012 winning streak alive, and will no doubt look to build on it as the year progresses.

Let's see what the numbers tell us:

Sharapova's winning percentage on her first serve dropped drastically, as did the winning percentage on her second serve. She won only 3 of the 17 points of her second serve. What added fuel to the fire was her unforced errors, she had a differential of negative 16, whereas Azarenka had a differential of positive 2. Sharapova's return of serve, and her break point conversion which had been her greatest strengths also deserted her as she won only 37% of the receiving points and went 1 of 4 on the break point chances.

Azarenka who had gone to the 3 setters in her last 2 matches here at the Melbourne park, did not want to take this match to the distance as she upped her level and played cleanly and with great composure till the end. By the end of the day, Azarenka just out-classed Saharapova and she was just the better player today in each and every way.

Azarenka won more than a match, she won her first Grand Salm, she won the top spot in the rankings, she became the first ever Belarusian to win a top spot in tennis and to win a major, she became the only player in the WTA history to grab the top spot without ever being ranked world No.2 in her career before grabbing the top spot.

At the end of the match there were no hugs and kisses, just cold handshakes. For Sharapova, she will definitely need some time to get this defeat out of her mind. First it was Kvitova who denied Sharapova a chance at her first major after injury, and now it was Azarenka. In both those matches, Sharapova entered the match with greater experience and with greater chances to win the match as compared to her opponents, but both times she came out as the loser.

However, I believe that Sharapova's time will come soon, when she will complete her comeback and win her first major after her surgery. For now on it is all Azarenka. Before the final, Azarenka was asked in a conference if winning a major meant to her more or grabbing the top spot. She answered it in style, I don't remember the exact words, but something like "There is no better way to grab the top spot than by winning a major and there should be a balance between the two." Well said by Azarenka, and she proved it by her performance in the Melbourne final.

Omair, thank you very much for all your previews of Australian Open matches and your post-match analyses. Your contributions to Women's Tennis Blog have been marvelous and I hope that you will share your tennis insights with us for the long time to come. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Victoria Azarenka

Playing her first Grand Slam final, the third-seeded Azarenka started nervously by dropping serve in the first game of the match and finding herself 0-2 0-30 down. But from then on, she started playing aggressively, moving Sharapova around and neutralizing her power. From 3-3 in the first set, the match belonged only to Azarenka. 

If you look at the stats, Azarenka was drastically better than her fourth-seeded opponent in too many departments:

• Azarenka committed 12 unforced errors to Sharapova's 30
• Azarenka won 53% on second serve, compared to Sharapova's 18%
• Azarenka had 60% of receiving points won, while Sharapova won only 37%
• Azarenka converted 71% of break points, Sharapova only 25%
• Azarenka won 88% of net approaches, Sharapova more than twice less, 43%

Being the 2005 Australian Open junior champion and now winning the trophy as a pro, Azarenka has become the third woman in history to win the tournament both as a junior and as a senior.

Winning Sydney and the Australian Open this season, the 22-year-old has remained undefeated in 2012.

What do you think of Azarenka's victory? Are you surprised by the score in the final?

About the ranking, are you glad to see a new face on the top? Note that Caroline Wozniacki will fall from No.1 to No.4! (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Australian Open women's championship match will see two "ria's" facing each other, each trying to outgrunt the other. It will be one of the noisiest women's finals Australian Open has ever had, since both Maria and Victoria shriek loudly. My advice to the people intending to go and watch the match would be to take ear plugs with you or you might get your ears hurt. Ok enough of joking, let's see what we have in store for the final.

Seeing the form both players are taking into the final, it promises to be a great match. Both players have lost just two sets so far in the tournament, both losing one set in the quarterfinals and one in the semis. What is more interesting is that they both lost the same sets. Maria lost the first set in her quarterfinal against Sabine Lisicki, as did Azarenka against Radwanska. Maria lost the second set in her semifinal against Kvitova, as did Azarenka against Clijsters.

Both have not lost a match this year. Azarenka winning Sydney and carrying that momentum to the Australian Open, while Sharapova kick started her 2012 campaign at the Australian Open. Who will keep her winning streak intact in the final? Will it be Maria or Victoria?

The winner gets more than the Grand Slam trophy, the winner will get the honor of being the highest-ranked female tennis player on the planet as well. A win by Sharapova will return her to the top spot, while a win by Azarenka will mean a lot of things for her. She will become the first Belarusian ever to win a Grand Slam, the first Belarusian ever to attain the top spot, and the first player ever to grab the top spot without being world No.2 ever in her career, since the debut of rankings in 1975.

Their head-to-head is tied at 3-3. Their last encounter was won by Sharapova when Azarenka retired in Rome. The other two victories of Sharapova over Azarenka came in three sets, while Azarenka in her three wins has won in straight sets. Azarenka and Maria both enter the final in great shape and great form.

Let's see what their form so far in the tournament suggests:

Sharapova's first serve has so far been very good (considering that Sharapova's serve has been her liability since her comeback from the shoulder surgery), and so has been her winning percentage on her first and second serves. Sharapova's break point conversion rate has been very good so far, since she is one of the best returners on the tour at the moment, and if she wants to win, she will have to keep that up.

Since we have little to choose from, it will come down to two things:

1) Sharapova's serve – if it holds up for one more day, it will earn her a Grand Slam

2) Nerves - it is Azarenka's first major final. Sharapova has been here before and she knows what it takes to win. Whoever will handle her nerves better will come out on top.

I think Azarenka will come out at the top in three sets, if she continues the way she has been playing. Who do you think will come out at the top and win the first major of 2012?

Let's hope for great match and a great year. What a way to to kick start the slam season of this year, where we saw the three of top four players making it to the semis. Let's hope that they can keep this level up and going for the rest of the year.

Additional info: Check out Omair's post-match analytics of Sharapova's semifinal win over Petra Kvitova, quarterfinal win over Ekaterina Makarova, and Azarenka's defeat of Kim Clijsters in the semis, and quarterfinal victory over Agnieszka Radwanska. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Everyone had been criticizing the top players for their inconsistency and inability to dig deep through the tournament draws, but with the three of the top four seeds making it to the Australian Open final, along with Kim Clijsters, nobody can doubt the consistency of the top players now.

None of us could have asked for a better semifinal line-up, and the semifinals lived up to their expectations, both the matches producing some jaw-dropping tennis, intense rallies, seemingly impossible shots from players. There were momentum swings in both matches, but overall the quality of tennis was very high and they were worth watching.

Azarenka and Clijsters were the first to walk on to the Rod Laver Arena today to begin the battle for a spot in the championship match. Azarenka moved Clijsters all over the court testing her ankle in the first set, while taking the set 6-4. Clijsters could not find a way into Azarenka's game and by the end of the first set when she got into Azarenka's game it was too late since Azarenka took the set.

Kim worked her way back into the match moving Azarenka around the court and took the second set 6-1 when she held her serve to love. It seemed that Kim had all the momentum and would walk away with the match. It made me wonder whether it would be Kim back or Victoria back.

However, as the third set started Kim lost all the momentum she had built, as serve deserted her completely and Azarenka took the set and hence the match to make her way to her first Grand Slam final.

The match had everthing, intense rallies, beautiful shot making, momentum swings, emotions, just everything you can ask for. Both players gave everything they had. Azarenka came out on top at the end, and showed how much she has matured and how much she has learned to control her nerves.

Let's have a look at what the stats tell us. Clijsters and Azarenka were equal in every department, but where Azarenka excelled was that she held her nerves and remained calm and cool under pressure. Clijsters actually won one more point than Azarenka, but Azarenka's nerve control and calm attitude carried her out of the match as winner.

Azarenka was pounding on every second serve of Clijsters. Clijsters managed to win only 39% of her second serves, which may be the main reason of her loss.

Azarenka went toe to toe with Clijsters in all the rallies and that paid her the dividend, for she earned a spot in her first major.

Azarenka is 22, with the performance we have seen from her so far, and with the performaces put up by Kvitova, Sharapova, I think we will be seeing a lot of these players in this year and the years to come and if these performances are any indicator, they tell us that we will have some consistency at the top of the WTA. We will have some consistent players who will be going deep in the draws at almost every tournament. With Clijsters in her last year on the tour, Serena Williams, having already said that she does not love sports, Venus Williams out with injuries, Svetlana Kuznetsova not being able to find her game, I guess these players are ready to take charge of the top spots and are determined to stay there for a long time. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Both Kvitova and Sharapova took the Rod Laver Arena today knowing that they both had a lot on the line: the No.1 ranking and a spot in the championship match. Kvitova had an edge coming into the match, for it was Kvitova who beat Sharapova on Center Court at Wimbledon in the title match last year in straight sets. Sharapova had revenge on her mind, and revenge was what she got at the end, along with a chance to grab the top spot and a chance to earn her second Australian Open trophy and fourth Grand Slam title.

Sharapova started the match on fire, walking away with the first set 6-2, and it seemed that Kvitova would bow out in straight sets. But we have seen that Kvitova is a fighter and she comes back to win matches. It was Kvitova's turn to show why she is world No.2 as she took the second set to send the match to a decisive third set. Again, it was Kvitova who looked sharper and on a roll, but Sharapova hung in there long enough to let the nerves get the better of Kvitova. Kvitova had a lot of chances to move ahead in the third set, but she just could not capitalise on them. In the end nerves got the better of Kvitova as her forehand sailed long to hand Sharapova the game, set and match. Both played some jaw-dropping tennis throughout the match.

Let's see what the numbers tell us about this match:

The two were equal in almost every department, and it is a shame that one had to lose. However, where Kvitova lost the match and where Sharapova won it was the break point conversion rate: Sharapova converted all five of her break points, while Kvitova could capitalise on only three of the 14 chances she got.

Sharapova silenced her critics with her performance today, and she showed what a true fighter she is and how she fights back and never gives up. It was her never-giving-up attitude that made her hang in the third set and ultimately win it.

Kvitova is only 21, and still learning and promises to be a major force in the years to come, Sharapova, 24, has shown us today that she is back from her shoulder injury completely and that she can compete at the top level again.

Sharapova has now reached the second Grand Slam final of the last three majors she has played, the other being Wimbledon last year. With Victoria Azarenka, the other Australian Open 2012 finalist, also in red hot form, this promises to be a great year if these players can keep this form going on for the whole year. We might be seeing the top players moving down deep into the draws more often this year. What a great start to a great year. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

When Kvitova and Sharapova meet for their semifinal, a lot of things will be out there on the line. They are both aware that whoever emerges victorious out of this encounter will keep alive her hope of attaining the top spot. Whoever wins the Australian Open other than Kim Clijsters will be the world No.1 when the rankings are released on Monday.

Sharapova has so far made it to the semifinals of the Australian Open four times (excluding this year's result), and has gone to the final twice. The two times she lost in the semis it was in three sets: in 2005 to eventual champion Serena Williams and in 2006 to Justine Henin. Will she make it to the finals this time and keep her hopes of regaining the top spot alive or will she bow out to the Czech power tower Kvitova?

As for Kvitova, this is her third Grand Slam semifinal and her first at the Australian Open. How will she fare in Melbourne? She obviously has the experience of playing and winning at the biggest stages of tennis, so she will not be fazed by the stage tomorrow.

So far Sharapova and Kvitova have faced each other three times, with Kvitova leading their head-to-head 2-1, although one of those victories came via retirement when Sharapova twisted her ankle at Tokyo last year in her match against Kvitova. However, Kvitova's other win came at the biggest stage of tennis, at the Wimbledon Centre Court in the championship match and she did that in style, beating Sharapova in straight sets. Will Sharapova be able to take revenge, only time will tell us.

Let's have a look at what the numbers tell us about their chances:

The stats tell us that Kvitova is not a great returner and she has not been very good at winning points on her second serve, and she will have to take into consideration that Sharapova is a great returner.

Kvitova will have to keep her serve under control, she will have to be more patient with points. Masha has an upper hand in the break point conversion ratio and the points won on the first and the second serves, but Kvitova comes on top when we look at the winners-UE differential.

There is not much that separates these two. What will be crucial in the match-up of two Wimbledon champions, one reigning and one former, will be how Kvitova wins points on her second serve, and how Sharapova's serve holds up.

Both Sharapova and Kvitova have so far lost one set in the tournament. However, Kvitova had concentration lapses in some of her matches and had problem in closing out the match, which will also be very crucial in her match against Sharapova.

Can Kvitova hold up her game long enough to outlast Sharapova or will it be Sharapova's day? If both are on fire, we all will be in for a treat. Who do you think will emerge out on top and who will you be rooting for? (photos: © Neal Trousdale)