Djokovic, Murray to met in Australian semi

MELBOURNE, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and fourth-seeded Andy Murray both won in straight sets Wednesday and will meet in the semifinals of the Australian Open.

Djokovic defeated Murray in last year's Australian Open final, with Djokovic posting the first of his three Grand Slam titles in 2011.

The other men's semifinal has No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal going against third-seeded and four-time Australian Open champion Roger Federer. It is just the second time the top four men's seeds advanced to the Australian Open finals.

Djokovic defeated fifth-seeded David Ferrer 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 in the quarterfinals. Djokovic took the first two sets but the match was fairly even statistically until the last set when Djokovic won 72 percent of the points.

He lost just two points on serve in the set and had 12 winners in his 26 points won.

Murray rolled past 24th-seeded Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. Nishikori managed two breaks but Murray had seven in taking 53 percent of the points when receiving serve.

As in the Djokovic-Ferrer match, the third set was lopsided with Murray taking 71 percent of the points and winning all but three points off Nishikori's serve.

Djokovic holds a 6-4 series advantage over Murray going into the semifinals. Djokovic won two of their three 2011 meetings, including the straight-set win to take the Australian Open.

Nadal has a 17-9 record versus Federer. The only time they squared off in Melbourne was in 2009 when Nadal took a five-set decision in the finals in what is considered a classic match.