Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic celebrates during her women's singles quarterfinals match against Sara Errani of Italy at the 2012 Australian Open tennis championship at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 25, 2012. Petra Kvitova won 2-0. Photo: Xinhua

Second seed Petra Kvitova beat Sara Errani in straight sets to advance to her first Australian Open tennis semifinal on Wednesday.

The Czech defeated unseeded Italian Errani 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 51 minutes.

This is the 21-year-old Czech's first Australian Open semifinal and her third at a Grand Slam after making the final four at Wimbledon the past two years.

She will play the winner of the women's last quarterfinal, an all-Russian matchup between No. 4 seed Maria Sharapova and Ekaterina Makarova, who upset five-time champion Serena Williams in the fourth round.