Berdych hammers Nadal to make Melbourne semi-finals

Tomas Berdych played arguably the grand slam quarter-final of his life to end the longest losing streak on the ATP Tour with a 6-2 6-0 7-6(5) victory over Rafa Nadal and advance to the Australian Open semi-finals on Tuesday.

Berdych, who beat the virtually unstoppable and then six-times champion Roger Federer in the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2010, had not beaten Nadal in 17 successive matches, tied for the record as the longest losing streak to another player.

The seventh-seed started like a runaway train against the 14-times grand slam champion forcing him deep behind the baseline and painting the tramlines as every shot he went for seemingly came off.

Berdych won the opening set for the first time in a run of seven matches against Nadal, then swept through the second in 25 minutes and despite a third set fightback by the Spaniard, the damage was done and the Czech moved into a semi-final against either Andy Murray or Nick Kyrgios.