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 Australia Day fireworks were expected on court and off on day nine
of the championships but Djokovic extinguished Kei Nishikori's flame
6-3 6-2 6-4 and Williams doused every spark of a threat from Maria
Sharapova to win 6-4 6-1.
The defending champions face very different hurdles in the last
four, however, with Djokovic moving on to face 17-times grand slam
winner Roger Federer and Williams's path to a seventh final blocked
by the slight figure of Agnieszka Radwanska.
Federer eased past Tomas Berdych 7-6(4) 6-2 6-4 while fourth seed
Radwanska thrashed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1 6-3 to reach her second
semi-final at Melbourne Park.
Djokovic has played five and had already booked a place in his sixth
when the traditional festive fireworks lit up the skies over
Melbourne to celebrate the national holiday.
The 28-year-old, supposedly vulnerable to an upset after racking up
100 unforced errors in a five-set marathon against Gilles Simon in
the fourth round, rolled on remorselessly.
Seventh seed Nishikori stunned the world number one the last time
they met in a grand slam at the 2014 U.S. Open, but there was to be
no repeat.
Early breaks were enough to secure the first two sets for the
Serbian, who later revealed he had not hit a single ball on Monday,
and only after an injury timeout did Nishikori rediscover the
aggression that got him to the last eight.
Asia's number one raced to a 3-1 lead on the back of two breaks in
the third set but Djokovic reined him in with two breaks of his own
and grabbed a third before finishing the Japanese off with a
crunching backhand winner after just over two hours.
"I was solid," Djokovic said. "I was determined, focused. In
important points and moments I managed to stay composed and make him
play an extra shot.
"Overall it was a very solid performance."
LOSING STREAK
Williams faced her biggest threat in the first set of her contest
against Sharapova, who had placed her hopes of ending a 12-year
losing streak against the world number one on a rejuvenated serve.
The Russian had racked up a career-high 21 aces in her fourth-round
match but her serve deserted her when she needed it most in the 10th
game and Williams broke to win the first set before racing away with
the second.
"I think if you're serving maybe 180 (kph) against somebody else
compared to Serena, that's an ace," said Sharapova.
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"Against Serena, as we all know, the return is one of her great
strengths. She's very explosive."
Williams twice had treatment for the after-effects of food poisoning
before securing an 18th successive win over the five-times grand
slam champion.
The 34-year-old American has won all eight matches against Pole
Radwanska but said she was taking nothing for granted as she
continues her bid for a 22nd grand slam title.
"Nothing's guaranteed in sports," she said. "I still have to win two
matches against potentially two extremely tough opponents."
Federer is also 34 and it has been quite some time since he was able
to take for granted advancement to the last four at grand slams.
Czech Berdych had triumphed in their last two meetings at majors
but, after a tight opening set, was no match for the clinical Swiss.
Federer found the target with nearly 70 percent of his first serves
and won 83 percent of those points, hit 48 winners and made only 26
unforced errors to smother the sixth seed in two hours and 16
minutes.
"I think I played well overall," he said. "I think the first set was
definitely key to the rest of the match because I think it maybe
might've taken some energy out of Tomas. Who knows? If not physical,
also mental."
Federer and Djokovic have played 44 times with the wins split
equally between them, although the Serbian won their meetings in
finals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.
"We are big rivals, we played so many times against each other,"
said Djokovic. "There's a lot of tension. There's a lot at stake.
I'm expecting a great fight in two days."
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
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