Andy Murray has reached his third successive Australian Open semi-final after easing past the challenge of Kei Nishikori.
The world number four was rarely troubled, winning 6-3 6-3 6-1 in two hours and 12 minutes, as he maintained his smooth progress through the draw in Melbourne.
Murray will have better days - he got just 44 per cent of first serves into play - but, that aside, there was little room for improvement as he moved into a last-four clash with either Novak Djokovic or David Ferrer.
"It was a good match, a lot of fun points, most of them he was winning so I was trying to keep them as short as possible," said Murray.
"But I need to serve better, I didn't serve particularly well but the returning was good so that was a positive.
"My game has been getting better each match and I am moving better and I am going to be fresh going into the weekend."
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