David Ferrer into quarters without dropping a set

Next up for Murray will be No. 8 David Ferrer, a two-time semifinalist, who held off No. 10-seeded John Isner 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

Andy Murray and David Ferrer played out a titanic quarterfinal. Murray leads their head-to-head meetings 12-6 and has won the last five times they have played. Azarenka won her Australian titles in 2012 and 2013.

He joins fellow Brit Jo Konta who made history this morning by beating China’s Zhang Shuai to become the first British woman to make a Grand Slam semi-final since Jo Durie at 1983 US Open. “It was a tough few days”, Andy Murray said.

“When I was down 2-5, I was actually playing more aggressive”, Kerber said. You don’t have to retire when you’re 31 or when you’re 32.

“He works extremely hard”. His final match was against final Australian hope Bernard Tomic. You have to really go out there and take it from her, because she’s not going to give you anything. “After a tough year in 2014, I think I’m now sort of established again at the top of the game and giving myself chances”.

The Spaniard came into the latest encounter as the only man yet to drop a set at Melbourne Park this year.

The No. 23-seeded Monfils, a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open, delighted the Margaret Court Arena crowd with his lunging, leaping style of play. He will be favored over Ferrer and would be favored over both Raonic and Monfils.

The No. 7-seeded Kerber saved a match point in her first-round win over Japan’s Misaki Doi, and she thought that was a good omen.

Zhang needed to win three matches in qualifying, so she’s on a seven-match winning streak in Melbourne. But the real-world concerns have been piling up at this Australian Open: from the impending birth of his first child, which could have him on a plane out of Melbourne on short notice, to the medical issues of his father-in-law, Nigel Sears, which also could have kept him from continuing. Stosur lost in the first round.

Because if Murray advances to his fifth Australian Open final, he’ll need to top either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic, who defeated Murray in last year’s final.

The Scot has beaten Ferrer in four of their five clashes at grand slam level.

Raonic cruised to the first two sets, then watched as Wawrinka attempted to come back from two sets down for the seventh time in his career. I won it on a net cord.

“It was super intense”, Williams said. This will be the 13th time Ferrer and Murray meet on hard court.

“She played quite explosive”, Sharapova said. “She definitely wasn’t making it easy for me”.