Sharapova was the more impressive of the two today, a ruthlessly efficient display accounting for Makarova, who acquitted herself well in her first grand slam quarter-final.
"It was solid today," said Sharapova. "I thought she was going to play well coming off a big win, probably the biggest of her career.
"It was really important for me not to give her too much of a look at the open court. I really wanted to take advantage of my game and improve from the previous match and I think I stepped up when I had to."
In a match of hard-hitting baseline rallies, fourth seed Sharapova possessed the greater accuracy, particularly at the key moments, to move through 6-2 6-3.
The 2008 champion here, Sharapova has made smooth progress through the draw with her only dropped set coming against Sabine Lisicki in round four.
Indeed, the only shadow being cast over her tournament is the issue of grunting which has again been raised with Sharapova and her fellow semi-finalist Victoria Azarenka singled out as the worst offenders.
Agnieszka Radwanska, beaten by Azarenka in the last eight yesterday, spoke out after her loss and expressed hope the WTA would take action.
When asked about Radwanska's comments, Sharapova snapped: "Isn't she back in Poland already?
"I've been the same over the course of my career. No one important enough has told me to change or do something different."
Kvitova overcame a mid-match slump to beat Errani 6-4 6-4.
With her big-hitting game, the match was always going to be played on Kvitova's terms. And so it proved as the rallies were won or lost by the lanky left-hander with Errani simply trying to make it as difficult as possible for her opponent.
And for the most part she did a good job.
With service holds at a premium, the opening set came down to Kvitova's consistency and she held it together long enough to claim it in 53 minutes.
And she looked on her way to a routine win when she claimed the Errani serve at the start of the second.
But the Italian, also appearing in the last eight at a major for the first time, had other ideas as Kvitova's game started to disintegrate.
The number of unforced errors from the Czech increased rapidly - she made 44 in the match - and Errani took full advantage, wisely keeping the ball in play and making her opponent play one more shot.
It led to her winning four games on the trot.
But Kvitova, sensing the match was getting away from her, refocused and having held for 2-4, reeled off another four games in a row, reasserting her authority from the baseline.
She admitted afterwards she had struggled with the expectation of playing a lower-ranked opponent.
"At the beginning I was a little nervous because I knew everyone expected it to be an easy match," she said. "And I probably had it in my head that it was a good draw. But Sara played great."