Three to See: Australian Open Semifinal Previews

Peering in from the outside, it can be hard to say exactly what makes Makarova such a tough adversary for the world’s top players. She’s a lefty, which is unusual, and many of the women say she “reads the game well.” But she has no obvious weapons and isn’t conspicuously athletic—she’s a solid competitor, and that’s been enough to put her in the Top 10, get her to the semifinals of the last two Grand Slams, and earn her a straight-set win over world No. 3 Simona Halep in the last round.

But one place where Makarova’s game has not been enough, or even close, is in her matches against Sharapova. Whatever troubles her tour-mates doesn’t trouble Maria, who has dropped just one set in their five meetings. Perhaps Sharapova just powers through Makarova's spins and placements, and doesn’t give her fellow Russian a chance to read much of anything. Based on Maria’s last win, a straight-set drubbing of Genie Bouchard, there’s no reason to believe that's about to change. Winner: Sharapova

This pair of Americans, who have never faced each other, will make the one-day turnaround that the Aussie Open demands of two of its women’s semifinalists. Last year that change in routine had a debilitating effect on Agnieszka Radwanska, who went out in a dispirited hurry. Will either Serena or Madison suffer that fate today?

Keys is the more likely victim, for two reasons: (1) Serena has reached the Australian Open semifinals five times, and she’s gone on to win the tournament on all five occasions—she owns the second week at Slams, and she played her best match of the fortnight against Dominika Cibulkova in the quarters; (2) Keys will come in already carrying a potentially serious injury; in her win over Serena’s sister Venus, the 19-year-old aggravated the left thigh strain that forced her to retire at Wimbledon last year. That may have helped her against Venus—Keys went for winners, and got them—but moving at less than your best doesn’t sound like much of a strategy against Serena. Winner: Williams

A lot of things point to a mini-upset by Berdych here. His power matches up well against Murray’s craft, as evidenced by the Czech’s 6-4 record in their head-to-head; he also won their last two meetings, on hard courts in 2013, in straight sets. Berdych’s form is impeccable at the moment; he has yet to drop a set in five matches, and that includes his quarterfinal stunner over Rafael Nadal. Finally, Berdych should have some new inside dope on his opponent: He’s working with Murray’s old coach, Dani Vallverdu. That may be the most intriguing aspect of this semi: What will Murray’s old friend have in store for him now that he’s in the enemy camp?

Still, as Murray says, he also knows what Vallverdu thinks of Berdych’s game, and he’s aware of his old coach’s tactical tendencies. More important, I think Murray will have something to prove in this one. I thought the same thing of his last match, against Nick Kyrgios; Murray looked inspired and toughened by the pro-Aussie crowd. When he’s in that kind of mood, and he’s not facing his superiors in the Big 3, he’s a hard man to beat. Winner: Murray