MELBOURNE, Australia -- Novak Djokovic reached his 25th Grand Slam semifinal by beating No. 8 Milos Raonic, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2 at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
The No. 1-ranked player cruised through his quarterfinal without ever facing a break point by his 24-year-old opponent, a rising Canadian star known for having one of the biggest serves in the game.
Djokovic, who has dropped his serve only once through five matches, is trying to claim his fifth Australian Open trophy.
"I'm a self-critic, but tonight there was not much I could complain about," Djokovic said. "From the first game until the last, I played the way I wanted. I feel very good about my game at the moment."
Djokovic next faces defending champion Stan Wawrinka in the semifinals, for a rematch of last year's Australian Open quarterfinal that Wawrinka won.
Djokovic won the title here in 2008, his first major, and three years in a row from 2011. With Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal gone from the other side of the draw, his major opposition for another trophy could be Andy Murray, if he beats Tomas Berdych in the other semifinal Thursday.
One match away from that opportunity, Djokovic was pleased to have added to his Grand Slam semifinal tally that started at the French Open in 2007.
"It never gets old being in the last four of a Grand Slam," Djokovic said.
Wawrinka advanced with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (6) win over US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori, avenging a five-set loss to the Japanese star in the quarterfinals of that Slam event.
Wawrinka, who beat Rafael Nadal last year for his first Grand Slam title, looked to be cruising in his third-set tiebreaker with Nishikori -- racing out to a 6-1 lead -- but the Japanese player saved match point after match point with a combination of great shots and errors by Wawrinka.
Nishikori made the biggest error at the wrong time, however, attempting a drop shot from the back of the court that bundled into the net. That set up a sixth match point for Wawrinka, which he converted with an ace, his 20th of the match.
"Phew, I'm still nervous," Wawrinka said in his postmatch interview on court. "It's never easy with his returning. You have to go for it."
Nishikori said he had a difficult day.
"I was struggling with my serve. ... I couldn't get good rhythm in the first and second set," he said. "He played really aggressive, great tennis. Mentally I was fine, I was ready to go. But he was a little bit better today."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.