"I think he's doing a fantastic tournament. If he keep playing like this, he going to have a good chances," Nadal told reporters.

Nadal's most recent loss in the quarterfinals of a major was at last year's Australian Open, when he retired from his game against Andy Murray due to a right knee injury.

This is Ferrer' s first time to reach semi-finals in Australian Open. He will next meet Fifth seed Andy Murray on Friday.

Meanwhile, fifth seed Andy Murray battled pass unseeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, and reached the semifinals of Australian Open for the second consecutive year.

British Murray, who is still chasing his first major title, won 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 in three hours and six minutes to set up a semi-final date with Ferrer.

Although ranking as world No. 46, Dolgopolov did not play bad and has gave Murray pressure throughout the match. The Ukrainian had knocked out world No.4 Robin Soderling in the previous round, and on Wednesday became the first player this year to keep Murray on court for more than two hours.

"It was very tough, every point was different, he hits, just different," Murray told reporters in Melbourne after the match.

"He came back at me well in the third set, but I did well in the end. I had to go for my shots a little bit more, I was a little bit tentative in the tiebreak, so went for my shots a bit more and that settled me down. It was a tough match, and a good one to get through."

【体坛英语资讯：Nadal out, Murray, Zvonareva, Clijsters advance】相关文章：

★ 娱乐英语资讯：Christina Aguilera reveals baby son pics

★ 体坛资讯：Henman tops Moya to advance at Wimbledon

★ 体坛英语资讯：China to meet U.S. in basketball opener at Olympic Games

★ 娱乐英语资讯：Longoria, Parker deny claims of affair

★ 体坛英语资讯：Sun hopes to shine again in doubles

★ 体坛英语资讯：Federer, Jankovic reach second round of French Open

★ 体坛资讯：Dynasty! Spurs win 4th NBA title

★ 娱乐英语资讯：Kate Mosss Doherty detox: Can she kick the habit?

★ 体坛英语资讯：German Football Federation wish to extend contract with Low

★ 娱乐英语资讯：Kirsten Dunst turns fashion designer