MARIA SHARAPOVA has denied inside knowledge will be a factor in her Australian Open semi-final against Li Na and insisted it will come down to ‘‘execution’’ on the day.

There are links between the pair: Sharapova’s current coach Thomas Hogstedt is a former mentor of Li while the two players are managed by the same agent, Max Eisenbud.

But Sharapova believes their off-court set-ups will have no bearing on their lastfour clash tomorrow.

She said: ‘‘We’ve played against each other so many times, before Thomas was my coach and since.

‘‘We know each other’s games, it has nothing to do with it.

‘‘Our coaches are not the ones that are going out on the court and playing against each other.

‘‘We’re certainly experienced enough and at the end of the day it’s all about execution and not the other factors.’’ Sharapova has executed well in Melbourne so far, dropping just nine games in reaching the semi-finals – bettering the tournament record of 12 set by Monica Seles in 1991.

She beat Ekaterina Makarova 6-2 6-2 in a repeat of the win over her fellow Russian at the same stage last year.

It was another one-sided encounter with Makarova, who ousted fifth seed Angelique Kerber in the previous round, unable to make any impression on Sharapova’s high-intensity, big-hitting game.