Former champion Maria Sharapova charged into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday.
U.S. Open semi-finalist Peng Shuai, taking the mantle from retired Chinese champion Li Na, stayed with the Russian second seed for seven games, but was blanked in the next eight as Sharapova set up a blockbuster showdown with Canadian sensation Eugenie Bouchard, a 6-1 5-7 6-2 winner over Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu.
Twenty-year-old Bouchard was dubbed 'the next Sharapova' as she announced herself in a breakout 2014, and bristles at the comparison which was put to the test at the French Open semi-finals last year.
Sharapova came back from a set down to quash Bouchard that day before going on to win the title and expects another stiff test from the Canadian upstart.
"We all want to create our own path and go through our own career," the five-time grand slam champion told reporters.
"And we're all destined for some sort of thing. We work extremely hard at a sport, and that's what we want to be known for."
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