Stan Wawrinka into Aussie semis
— -- MELBOURNE, Australia -- Novak Djokovic reached his 25th Grand Slam semifinal by beating No. 8 Milos Raonic, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2 at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
The No. 1-ranked player cruised through his quarterfinal without ever facing a break point by his 24-year-old opponent, a rising Canadian star known for having one of the biggest serves in the game.
Djokovic is trying to claim his fifth Australian Open trophy.
Djokovic faces defending champion Stan Wawrinka in the semifinals, for a rematch of last year's Australian Open quarterfinal that Wawrinka won.
Wawrinka advanced with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (6) win over US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori, avenging a five-set loss to the Japanese star in the quarterfinals of that Slam event.
Wawrinka, who beat Rafael Nadal last year for his first Grand Slam title, looked to be cruising in his third-set tiebreaker with Nishikori -- racing out to a 6-1 lead -- but the Japanese player saved match point after match point with a combination of great shots and errors by Wawrinka.
Nishikori made the biggest error at the wrong time, however, attempting a drop shot from the back of the court that bundled into the net. That set up a sixth match point for Wawrinka, which he converted with an ace, his 20th of the match.
"Phew, I'm still nervous," Wawrinka said in his postmatch interview on court. "It's never easy with his returning. You have to go for it."
Nishikori said he had a difficult day.
"I was struggling with my serve. ... I couldn't get good rhythm in the first and second set," he said. "He played really aggressive, great tennis. Mentally I was fine, I was ready to go. But he was a little bit better today."
Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych will play in the other men's semifinal Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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