MELBOURNE (Reuters) – David Ferrer stared defeat full in the face three times but staged an epic comeback from two sets down to beat fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro and reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Tuesday.

The fourth seed looked to be heading for the exit when, having been dominated by some brilliant play from the 10th seed for the first two sets, he faced Almagro serving for the match at 5-4 in the third.

MELBOURNE, Jan 22 (Reuters) – David Ferrer stared defeat full in the face three times but staged an epic comeback from two sets down to beat fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro and reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Tuesday.

The fourth seed looked to be heading for the exit when, having been dominated by some brilliant play from the 10th seed for the first two sets, he faced Almagro serving for the match at 5-4 in the third.

MELBOURNE, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Roger Federer said he was energised by facing younger players after handing Milos Raonic a masterclass in clinical tennis at the Australian Open on Monday to reach a 35th straight grand slam quarter-final.

Federer defused the 22-year-old Canadian’s serve and held his own comfortably before shifting up the gears when necessary to race to a 6-4 7-6 6-2 victory.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Roger Federer said he was energized by facing younger players after handing Milos Raonic a masterclass in clinical tennis at the Australian Open on Monday to reach a 35th straight grand slam quarter-final.

Federer defused the 22-year-old Canadian’s serve and held his own comfortably before shifting up the gears when necessary to race to a 6-4 7-6 6-2 victory in a little under two hours.

MELBOURNE, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Roger Federer said he was energised by facing younger players after handing Milos Raonic a masterclass in clinical tennis at the Australian Open on Monday to reach a 35th straight grand slam quarter-final.

Federer defused the 22-year-old Canadian’s serve and held his own comfortably before shifting up the gears when necessary to race to a 6-4 7-6 6-2 victory in a little under two hours.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Andy Murray lamented the ease of his victory over an exhausted Gilles Simon at the Australian Open on Monday despite it taking him to within three wins of back-to-back grand slam titles.

Frenchman Simon was a physical wreck after Saturday’s marathon third round victory over Gael Monfils and Murray barely had to move out of first gear to reach the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-1 6-3 win on Hisense Arena.

MELBOURNE, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Andy Murray lamented the ease of his victory over an exhausted Gilles Simon at the Australian Open on Monday despite it taking him to within three wins of back-to-back grand slam titles.

Frenchman Simon was a physical wreck after Saturday’s marathon third round victory over Gael Monfils and Murray barely had to move out of first gear to reach the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-1 6-3 win on Hisense Arena.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Svetlana Kuznetsova, refreshed but unseeded and unheralded after being sidelined for half of 2012, announced her return to the big time in some style on Monday with a win over Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open.

The Russian ended a streak of 40 consecutive grand slam appearances stretching back a decade when she pulled out of last year’s U.S. Open because of a knee injury, but she was back at her battling best to reach the last eight at Melbourne.

MELBOURNE, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Svetlana Kuznetsova, refreshed but unseeded and unheralded after being sidelined for half of 2012, announced her return to the big time in some style on Monday with a win over Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open.

The Russian ended a streak of 40 consecutive grand slam appearances stretching back a decade when she pulled out of last year’s U.S. Open because of a knee injury, but she was back at her battling best to reach the last eight at Melbourne.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic survived an almighty scare from an inspired Stan Wawrinka in a five-hour, five-set thriller at the Australian Open on Sunday, reaching a 15th consecutive grand slam quarter-final but only after digging himself out of a huge hole.

For the first 50 minutes of the contest, Wawrinka played as if possessed by his compatriot Roger Federer and confounded the world number one with brilliant backhands and ferocious forehands to notch up five straight breaks of serve.