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Murray and Raonic march on in Melbourne

Andy Murray and Milos Raonic will meet with a place in the Australian Open final up for grabs, after each won in four sets on Wednesday.

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There were no surprises in the men's singles quarter-finals at Melbourne Park as Andy Murray and Milos Raonic progressed to the last four of the Australian Open.

Both Murray and Raonic were favoured to progress from potentially challenging ties against David Ferrer and Gael Monfils.

And the respective second and 13th seeds each got the job done in similar fashion, progressing in four sets after initial leads had been cancelled out.

Murray lost the second set of his match with Ferrer on a tie-break, but ultimately triumphed with a degree of comfort following a brief delay owing to storms in the area, which prompted the closing of the roof on Rod Laver Arena.

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Raonic, meanwhile, benefited from an attacking approach as he recorded a 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 triumph over Monfils,

MOMENTS OF THE DAY

The closing of the roof seemed to suit Murray, who had broken for a 3-1 lead in the third set against Ferrer prior to the interruption. Raonic also enjoyed the shift to 'indoor' conditions, a factor he referenced in an on-court interview immediately after his win.

Raonic has an excellent record when winning the first set of a match and was gifted the chance to do so on this occasion as Monfils threw away a 40-15 advantage in game four. Although the Frenchman hit back from losing the opener by pulling level at one set apiece, his opponent was able to convert another early lead into victory.

KEY STATS

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Raonic is the first Canadian man to make the last four of the Australian Open.

In reaching his 18th grand slam semi-final, Murray has matched the haul achieved by Boris Becker.

SOCIAL MEDIA SWEEP

Rafael Nadal would love to still be involved at Melbourne Park, but is now focusing on future events having been knocked out in the first round by Fernando Verdasco. Not long after the quarter-final action concluded on Wednesday, Nadal posted a photo on Twitter, showing him practising on clay.

Andy and Jamie Murray, who is into the last four of the men's doubles with Bruno Soares, received a supportive tweet from Hibernian, the football team they follow. "Semi final appearances for @andy_murray, @jamie_murray and Hibernian this week! Good luck guys!" read a tweet from the club, who face St Johnstone in the Scottish League Cup last four on Saturday.

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THEY SAID WHAT?

Murray was unperturbed when his match with Ferrer was briefly suspended. "I grew up in Scotland where the weather isn't quite like here and I played most of my tennis indoors," said the world number two.

Raonic, meanwhile, is relishing the task awaiting him in the semi-finals. "[It's] a great challenge ahead of me, a challenge that I believe I have it within myself to find a solution to," said the Canadian in a post-match interview. "Hopefully I can make the most of the opportunity."

NEXT UP

Murray and Raonic will meet on Friday, with the former looking to reach his fifth Australian Open final. The other last-four tie in the men's singles sees Novak Djokovic - the top seed, reigning champion and tournament favourite - face 17-time grand slam winner Roger Federer.

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RESULTS

Andy Murray [2] beat David Ferrer [8] 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3 Milos Raonic [13] beat Gael Monfils [23] 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4

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