Federer sweeps past Zverev to reach semi-final

Roger Federer reached the last four of the Australian Open for a 13th time with a convincing 6-1 7-5 6-2 win over Mischa Zverev.

The 17-time grand slam winner needed just over 90 minutes to book his place in the semi-finals as he sent Andy Murray's conqueror packing with the minimum of fuss.

Playing in his first competitive event since Wimbledon, Federer clinched the first set in just 19 minutes against a player that was struggling to recreate the form that saw him shock the world number one on Sunday.

He did manage to break Federer early in the second set to lead 3-1 but the Swiss broke back immediately to get the set back on serve.

Zverev managed to stay with his opponent and even had the chance to break for a second time at 4-5 only to loss six points on the bounce, allowing Federer to take a two-set lead.

Federer broke in the fifth game and again in the seventh to move within one of a place in the semi-final and the former champion had little trouble serving out to set up a last four meeting against his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka.

"My expectation was not to play Stan Wawrinka in the semis. I thought maybe I could get to the fourth round or quarters - that's what I told the Swiss press," he said.

"For me to play against Stan I have to play aggressive, the more time I give him the better he is. I'm happy he's got this far but he doesn't need to go a step further - Stan knows I'm joking."

Wawrinka booked his place in the semi-finals with a 7-6 6-4 6-3 win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

It took the 2014 champion some time to get to grips with Tsonga and it took a tie-break to separate them with Wawrinka clinching it when his opponent messed up a forehand.

Tsonga struggled to make much of an impact and even when he did break in the seventh game of the second set, he handed the advantage right back for Wawrinka, who broke again to move two sets up.

Wawrinka went on to win six games in a row to all but end Tsonga's hopes.

"It's not easy to play against him. He's a strong player," said Wawrinka.

"I think (the) conditions were quite fast today. It was a bit windy. Not easy to control (the ball).

"I started to move a bit better and be a bit more aggressive from the first shot. I think that's what made the difference."

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