Federer, Djokovic, Wozniacki, Li Na reach semis at Australian Open

Defending champion and four-time winner Federer thrashed fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka to reach the semi finals of the tournament for the eighth year in a row.

The champion at Melbourne Park in 2004, '06, '07 and last year, Federer had little trouble in disposing of good friend, Davis Cup and Olympics doubles partner, Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 in 107 minutes on Tuesday.

Wawrinka was playing well too, he had not dropped a set in the tournament before their clash, but Federer, playing in a record-equalling 27th consecutive grand slam quarterfinal, had all the answers.

"The scoreline suggests maybe it was easier than it looked like," Federer said. "I thought it was a pretty tough match."

Federer is trying to win the Australian Open for a fifth time and become just the second man to do it, the first was Roy Emerson who collected his fifth in 1966.

World No. 3 Serbian Djokovic claimed victory over 6th seed Czech' s Tomas Berdych 1-6, 6-7, 1-6 on the quarterfinal match.

"In a lot of the points I was trying to change the pace because when he is in his comfort zone he is a very dangerous player," Djokovic said. "The second set was very close and I was very lucky to win the breaker. It was a huge confidence boost to win that set and it meant I could go for my shots."

He will on Thursday face a tough game against Federer, who has won the last three meetings with Djokovic.

However, Djokovic beat Federer in straight sets the last time they met at the Australian Open, in the semi-finals in 2008.

On women's draw, world No.1 Wozniacki powered herself into the semi finals with a gritty 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over a Italian Francesca Schiavone.

Two days after her record-breaking marathon against Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova that lasted four hours and 44 minutes, Schiavone showed remarkable powers of recovery but eventually ran out of steam against her younger opponent from Denmark.

"Well, it was very difficult. Francesca was playing well. You know, it was tough for me to get the right rhythm, and I was making a little bit of mistakes on the important points," Wozniacki told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Wozniacki is now assured of remaining as World No. 1 when the new rankings are published next week.

She will next face 9th seed China's Li Na, who earlier on Tuesday easily beat German Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-4, and continues her battle to be the first Chinese player to make it to a Grand Slam final, Xinhuanet reports.

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