MELBOURNE, January 25, 2017

Back in a quarterfinal of a major for the first time since 2015 Roland Garros, 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal continued his resurgence at this year’s Australian Open with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-4  victory over Milos Raonic from Canada on Wednesday evening.

The ninth seed from Spain withstood 14 aces, hitting four of his own and broke serve two times to record his 50th match win in Melbourne after two hours and 44 minutes.

“He did some things well. I thought, he took the match to me. He did something a little bit different than he normally does. He played better than I did.” told Raonic, who won thee most recent meeting between the two in Brisbane earlier this month.

“I am excited about being back in the final rounds of the most important events,” Nadal was pleased. “It is always difficult, but I fought and I worked hard to try to make that happen. Very happy that after a lot of work, I am back in the semis. It is a special thing for me, especially here in Australia. Playing and competing very well during the whole event. That’s very important for me.”

Nadal will next take on Grigor Dimitrov. The 25-year-old from Bulgaria gained his second tour-level-victory over David Goffin from of Belgium in as many meetings between the two, winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Dimitrov hit 33 winners and won six of his 15 break point chances to advance to his second Grand Slam semi-final after Wimbledon 2014 in two hours and 12 minutes.

“The conditions were a little bit tough today. It was a little bit windy on one side. You had to find your way around the court. Toss on the serve as well. There were just a few details that I felt I had to fix in a better way. After the first set, I felt a little bit better, for sure. Then I felt I was in control of the match,” Dimtrov told and is looking forward to the semis.

“I feel like I have all the tools to go further, and my job isn’t over yet. I’m looking forward to my match on Friday. I think I’m prepared and ready to go the distance.”

Women’s Semis Set

In the women’s semi-final, Serena Williams will take on Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. The World No.2 from the United States edged past Johanna Konta from Great Britain 6-2, 6-3.

“It was an interesting match. She’s obviously a really good player. Yeah, it went pretty well for me today,” Williams was pleased afterwards.

Lucic-Baroni upset the tournament’s number five Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. US-Americans Coco Vanderweghe and Venus William will square off in the second semi-final.

Day/Night attendance: 36,513