Maria Sharapova vs Li Na will take place in the Australian Open 2013 women’s semi finals on Thursday local time. The game is second up on the Rod Laver Arena and should begin from 9.30 p.m. ET. All the action can be watched online through live stream via the link provided below.

Second seed, Sharapova, has impressed through the tournament so far and must be down as one of the favorites for the Grand Slam. She scored a huge win by knocking out Venus Williams earlier in the tournament and has followed that up with a confident win against fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova.

Standing between Sharapova and another Grand Slam final is China’s Li Na, who is sixth seed in the tournament. She comes into this game having impressed by knocking out fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets. That victory shows that she is in good form, and will be the biggest challenge for Sharapova in the Australian Open so far this year.

Both of these women have won Grand Slams before in their careers and they will know what they have to do at this stage of the tournament in Melbourne. Both are also in fantastic form meaning this should be an exciting game for all tennis fans tuning in.

Through the Australian Open so far this year neither player has dropped a set yet, but something will have to give today between these on fire stars.

Arguably Na has had the tougher route through to this semi final match up, and in particular her 7-5, 6-3 win against Radwanska was and extremely tight game in which Na did fantastically well to come through.

Sharapova on the other hand has seemingly breezed through to the semi final. But fans can expect a much closer game for the Russian today, as two of the most powerful hitters in women’s tennis come together.

Maria Sharapova vs Li Na in the semi final of the women’s Australian Open 2013 should start from 9.30 p.m. ET and can be watched online through ESPN's live stream by clicking here.