Raonic reaches Australian Open semifinal

Milos Raonic is through to his first Australian Open semi-final after he defeated Gael Monfils 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in just over two and a quarter hours to set up a meeting with Britain’s Andy Murray.

After capturing the first two sets, Ferrer broke Isner to go up 6-5 in the third set after the American double-faulted on break point.

It wasn’t all one-way traffic from then on, as Murray broke at the start of the fourth set before Ferrer dug in to hit back to 2-2.

On Wednesday, a half-hour before Kerber began her 6-3, 7-5 win over Azarenka to advance to the semifinals, tennis’ governing bodies announced they will commission an independent review of their anti-corruption unit to restore “public confidence in our sport” following the reports that possible evidence of match-fixing was not properly investigated.

And the world number eight’s durability amongst the elite is all the more impressive given it has extended long into the twilight years of his career, when many players either accept a dwindling of their talents or retire from the game completely.

And after ending Australian interest in their Grand Slam by beating Bernard Tomic, Murray knows he will face another physically demanding task against the Spanish roadrunner.

Ferrer had the better of the tiebreak, winning one memorable rally that stretched to 31 shots, and clinched it on his first set point when Murray’s forehand was wide.

As part of its investigation, BuzzFeed also devised an algorithm to identify players it said had been regularly involved in matches with suspicious betting patterns.

It’s the first time since the December 1977 version of the Australian Open that two British players John Lloyd and Sue Barker that year have advanced to the final four of any major.

“It was good to have a break because we played some brutal rallies so we could come back refreshed”, Murray said.

“When I was down 2-5, I was actually playing more aggressive”, Kerber said.

The independent review announced in a news conference at Melbourne Park, earlier reported by The Associated Press, will be funded by the Tennis Integrity Board, which oversees the anti-corruption unit set up by the sport in 2008 to combat match-fixing.

Kermode acknowledged that Wednesday’s announcement helped keep the topic of match-fixing prominent in and around the tournament action.

Ferrer, the 2013 French Open runner-up, said: “With Andy, it’s going to be tough”.

But she took a medical timeout for treatment on her upper left leg early in the second set and was in obvious pain the rest of the match.

The other semifinalists – six-time champion Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska – were determined on Tuesday.