The snarling, spiteful side of women's tennis went on show at the Australian Open yesterday as two of the biggest names in the game let fly at their opponents.

Haughty Russian pin-up girl Maria Sharapova became incensed at the medical time-out called by Jelena Jankovic during their semi-final, offering some advice as the Serb received courtside treatment.

"She should get on with tennis and stop whingeing," Sharapova said as she waited courtside.

Already well in control of a match she went on to win 6-3 6-1, Sharapova was not going to let any interruptions stand in the way of her march to the championship final.

As the match finished, the two women exchanged lukewarm formalities at the net and the incident was never mentioned.

But it was different for Slovakian ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova after she bowed out in one of the most remarkable matches of the championship.

Hantuchova lost the match against fourth seed Ana Ivanovic 0-6 6-3 6-4, a scoreline which would have left any player feeling less than jovial.

But when she got to the net after the final point, she barely looked at Ivanovic and pointedly refused to offer a word of congratulation.

Having declared her black mood had been brought on only by disappointment, Hantuchova then proceeded to complain about bad calls, bad bounces and her opponent's bad manners.

Hantuchova accused Ivanovic of being "unfair" by allowing her tennis shoes to squeak on the court as she returned serve.

"Yeah, that's ridiculous, I think... I was really surprised with that. I think it's unfair," Hantuchova said.

–AAP, Melbourne