Melbourne: Champion Roger Federer took his place in the Australian Open semi-finals after fending off American James Blake 7-5, 7-6, 6-4 on Wednesday.
The Swiss top seed never needed to hit top gear but was still too strong for the 12th seed, running out a convincing winner in just over two hours to reach his 15th Grand Slam semi-final in a row.
"I thought it was a good match, good entertainment," Federer said.
"He is dangerous. But I was happy with the way I came up with great shots in the tiebreak and wore him down in the end."
After an early exchange of breaks, Federer broke again in the 12th game to take the first set.
The second set followed the same pattern as Federer broke early and Blake struck back, but the Swiss, chasing his 13th grand slam title, snatched the tiebreak 7-5.
Blake recovered from 5-2 down in the third to get back to 5-4, but world No.1 Federer held firm to line up a clash with third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia and stay on course for his third successive Australian Open title.
"I'm very happy with the way I am playing, I hope I can continue it," Federer said.
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