Nadal marches on

Rafael Nadal continued his march towards a first Australian Open title with a straight-sets victory against Gilles Simon in the quarter-finals tonight.

His 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 win sets up an all-Spanish semi-final for the first time in Melbourne in the open era after Davis Cup team-mate Fernando Verdasco also overcame a Frenchman – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – in his last-eight match.