Second seed Rafael Nadal ended Greek youngster Stefanos Tsitsipas’ captivating run to reach his fifth Australian Open final.
Nadal, 32, was in devastating form as he beat the 20-year-old 14th seed 6-2, 6-4,
6-0 in one hour and 46 minutes.
The Spaniard cracked 28 winners, breaking Tsitsipas’ serve six times and only facing one break point himself.
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He will play either top seed Novak Djokovic or France’s Lucas Pouille – who meet on Friday – in Sunday’s final.
“It was a great match, it has been a great tournament and I have played very well every day,” Nadal said.
“Hopefully I can play better than that.”
Also, US Open champion Naomi Osaka reached back-to-back Grand Slam finals with a hard-fought win over Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova at the Australian Open.
The Japanese fourth seed won 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 and will face Petra Kvitova, another Czech, in Saturday’s showpiece.
Osaka, 21, hit 15 aces and 56 winners in a confident display.
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Asked about her feelings when Pliskova won the second set, Osaka said: “I kind of expected it a little because I’ve played her so many times and she has beaten me more than I’ve beaten her. I told myself to regroup and I managed to win.
“It’s just experience playing matches like this. I was so scared serving second serves, I was like ‘oh, my god, please’ and somehow I made it so I guess that’s experience.”
The final will see Osaka and 28-year-old Kvitova, who has reached her first Grand Slam final since being stabbed in December 2016, battling for the world number one ranking.