World No. 2 Rafael Nadal hardly broke a sweat in a 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 straight-set victory over No. 24 Jarkko Neiminen of Finland yesterday to cruise into the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in four attempts.

The three-time French Open champ, and the only player to beat Roger Federer in the last 10 Grand Slam tournaments, next faces the winner of yesterday's later quarterfinal between No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.

"I'm very happy to be in the semifinals in this tournament. It's a very important tournament for me at the start of the season," Nadal said. "I've had a very good tournament so far."

James Blake advanced to a quarterfinal match against Roger Federer with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Marin Cilic on Monday.

Federer followed his long five-set third-round win over Janko Tipsarevic with some close calls in a straight sets win over No. 13 Tomas Berdych.

"It's just a reminder that everyone's human. You can have a bad day," said Blake, who has only taken one set off Federer in seven previous matches and reached the quarterfinals for the first time in seven trips to Melbourne Park.

Blake has made it this far at a Grand Slam tournament twice before—both at the U.S. Open. He lost to Andre Agassi in 2005 and Federer in four sets in 2006.

Fifth-seeded David Ferrer beat fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Monday night and next faces third-ranked Novak Djokovic, who ousted the last Australian hope when he defeated No. 19 Lleyton Hewitt 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.