Melbourne: Appearing ill for much of the match, defending champion Novak Djokovic held on to beat David Ferrer 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-1 and complete a blockbuster semi-final lineup at the Australian Open.
He leads the top four men in tennis into the semis at Melbourne Park — Djokovic against No 4 Andy Murray, who won his quarter-final match earlier on Wednesday 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 over Kei Nishikori of Japan.
On Thursday, No 2 Rafael Nadal plays No 3 Roger Federer, the first time the two former top-ranked stars have met in a semi-final since the 2005 French Open.
Djokovic rubbed the back of his upper left leg on several occasions, looked on the verge of being physically sick in the second set and buried his head in towels several times during breaks. During the third set, a tired-looking Djokovic sat down on a linesman's chair during a line-call video challenge by Ferrer.
"I was lucky to get out of the second set, it was a big mental advantage to get two sets up," Djokovic said.
After the match, he appeared to play down any on-court physical difficulties, saying "you have to hang in there."
Djokovic said he'd be watching the Nadal and Federer match like any tennis fan.
"I will enjoy it from my couch, they're two out of four or five of the greatest players to play this game, they've been so dominant. Every time they play it's a treat. I'm going to have a nice dinner at home and watch them,'' Djokovic said.
Murray, for his part, is also surprised to be not facing Nadal in the semi-finals.
"It has been amazing, I pretty much drew to be in Nadal's half ... almost every Slam. I can't remember the last time I wasn't in his half of the draw. It's been a long time, Murray said.
On the women's side, former and reigning Wimbledon winners Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova — two of the three players who can take the No 1 ranking a— advanced to the semi-finals.
Sharapova won 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday against fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova, who knocked out five-time champion Serena Williams in the previous round. Kvitova reached the semi-finals at Melbourne Park for the first time with a 6-4, 6-4 win over unseeded Italian Sara Errani.
The other player who can reach No 1 — third-seeded Victoria Azarenka — plays defending champion Kim Clijsters in the other semi-final on Thursday.
Sharapova must repeat her 2008 Australian title run if she is to take over the No 1 spot from Caroline Wozniacki, who lost any chance of maintaining her top ranking when she lost in the quarter-finals to Clijsters. Kvitova only has to match or better Azarenka to take the top spot.
Sharapova has dropped one set and lost 21 games in five matches.
"It's been a long road back to this stage," said Sharapova, who spent 10 months off the court with a shoulder injury that required surgery.
Sharapova held the No 1 ranking for seven weeks each in 2005 and 2007 and three weeks in mid-2008.
"I've been fortunate enough to be in that position before. I think the girls that are trying to get that position haven't been in that position before. It's a little bit different because I feel like I've experienced both things in my career: winning Grand Slams and being No 1 in the world. You can't compare the two,'' Sharapova said.
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