Rafael Nadal, who beat Roger Federer at the Australian Open on Thursday, says that reaching his 15th Grand Slam championship final is a fantastic way to the start the new season.

Top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated fifth seed David Ferrer of Spain 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-1 on Wednesday to set up an Australian Open semi-final against fourth-seeded Scot Andy Murray, which will be a repeat of last year's title match.

Four-time former Australian Open champion Roger Federer set a blockbuster quarter-final clash with Juan Martin del Potro after ending Australian teenager Bernard Tomic's campaign with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win at Melbourne Park on Saturday night.

In his first-round match Tuesday, the defending champion was broken in the third game and punished Italian Paolo Lorenzi by holding him off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

John Isner came through another epic encounter at a Grand Slam championship on Wednesday, when the American No. 16 seed beat David Nalbandian of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5), 10-8 at the Australian Open.

Italian Paolo Lorenzi made a promising start against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, breaking for a 2-1 lead on Tuesday afternoon in Melbourne, but his hopes for an upset were quickly extinguished. The defending champion prevented the World No. 109 from winning another game, rolling to a 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 victory after one hour and 32 minutes.