29th of January

Rafa Nadal has set up the first all-Spanish semi-final in Australian Open history after blasting past sixth seed Gilles Simon in straight sets on Wednesday night, 6-2 7-5 7-5 in a little under two-and-a-half hours to further press his claims for a sixth grand slam.

Rafa will meet good friend and fellow left-hander Fernando Verdasco in the semis after the 14th seed continued his surprise run through the tournament with a victory over last year's finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets.

Their match is scheduled first in the night session of Rod Laver Arena which means it will start no later than 7:30pm (local Melbourne time)

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“Fernando is playing at his best level. I (have) never played against him when he’s playing at the level he’s at right now, because I think he never played at this level before, beating Murray, beating Tsonga”. said Rafa about his friend.

“Sometimes in the past he had some mistakes in important moments and he lost a bit of concentration but he’s changing these things, no?”... “It will be very tough”.

Rafa is yet to drop a set this tournament and takes a 6-0 record into the clash with Verdasco, who also beat tournament favorite Andy Murray on his way to the semis. 

After the loss, Simon praised Rafa's mental strength and ability to hit winners from anywhere on the court.

He's doing everything very well on the court. He has improved his game a lot. He's able to run. He can attack. He can come to the net when it's important. Every time I play against him, he's the best player, I think. He's still improving," Simon said.

"He has a good chance to win (the tournament). He's No.1. He's playing very good. Maybe Roger because he (played) a very nice match yesterday. But I don't know. If he's playing like this, he has a really good chance to win."