Ferrer ousts Nadal at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- David Ferrer defeated world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in straight sets Wednesday and will go against Andy Murray in the semifinals of the Australian Open.

Ferrer was a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 winner over Nadal, who obviously wasn't 100 percent after suffering an apparent leg injury early in the match. The loss ended Nadal's chances of holding all four Grand Slam titles at once. He won the French Open, Wimbledon Championships and U.S. Open last year.

Murray, last year's runner-up in Melbourne, got past unseeded Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 in Wednesday's other quarterfinal. Murray hadn't lost a set in the tournament until dropping the third-set tiebreaker.

Ferrer, in his 11th year as a professional, is into only his second major tournament semifinal. The other was in the 2007 U.S. Open, which was also the last year he beat Nadal. Ferrer is 3-2 against Murray, whom he will play Friday in the semifinals, and took two of three matches against Murray last year.

The other men's semifinal will be played Thursday with world No. 2 Roger Federer, the event's defending champion, going against third-seeded Novak Djokovic.

Ferrer broke Nadal's serve seven times over the course of the match. Three of those breaks came in a 70-minute first set, in which Nadal had a pair of breaks himself. But Ferrer's break in the 10th game finished off the set.

Nadal had just 19 winners in the match, a very low number for him and perhaps related to his injury. He took a medical timeout in the first set and returned with his left leg heavily taped but gamely played through all three sets. A year ago to the day, Nadal retired in a 2010 quarterfinal match against Murray because of a knee injury.

Ferrer was able to move to early leads in each set. He used a second-game break in the third set and two wins on serve at love to build a 3-0 lead and served out for the win.

Dolgopolov had 57 winners but also 77 unforced errors against Murray, who continued his solid play in Melbourne. Murray ended with seven breaks, including a pair in the fourth set when he dropped only six points on serve.