Australian Open: Rafael Nadal remains on course for final showdown with great rival Roger Federer

Nadal has not made the last four of a major tournament since the 2014 French Open but he now stands two wins away from a 15th grand slam triumph after beating Raonic 6-4 7-6 (9/7) 6-4.

His reward is a meeting with the in-form Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who had earlier seen off Belgium’s David Goffin 6-3 6-2 6-4.

The Spaniard’s victory also moves him one step closer to a potential ninth grand slam final against Roger Federer, who plays fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the other semi-final on Thursday.

Nadal and Federer, 30 and 35 respectively, last met in the final here in 2009, when Nadal prevailed in five sets.

Dimitrov will certainly be no pushover, however, having continued his superb start to the season by reaching his second grand slam semi-final in Melbourne.

But Nadal has won seven of their eight career match-ups and looks to have rediscovered his groove after a turbulent 2016, which was hampered by a niggling wrist problem.

His dismantling of Raonic, the highest seed left in the tournament, was impressive and another indication he may be ready to reclaim the title he won eight years ago.

Nadal lost here in the first round to Fernando Verdasco 12 months ago and admitted to wondering if he might never challenge for major honours again.

“I am not a very arrogant person so I always have doubts,” Nadal said.

“It is normal, even when I was winning a lot I have doubts so you can imagine I have more when I am not winning and have injuries.

“The good thing is when you have doubts you feel ready to work more, you know how tough all the victories are.

“I had a great career but had a lot of tough moments that makes me enjoy even more the good moments like today.”

In the women’s draw, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni gave a shock-filled Atournament its greatest surprise of all by reaching her first grand slam semi-final in 18 years with victory over fifth seed Karolina Pliskova.

Lucic-Baroni, who turns 35 in March, made the last four at Wimbledon in 1999 but has spent the intervening years losing in the early rounds of major tournaments or skipping them completely.

She did not play a single grand slam between 2004 and 2009 as personal problems took hold including injuries, financial difficulty, as well as physical and mental abuse from her father Marinko. He has denied the allegations.

But now the Croatian is preparing for an Australian Open semi-final against Serena Williams on Friday after beating world No 5 Pliskova 6-4 3-6 6-4 to continue her fairytale run.

When Pliskova, the fifth seed and many observers’ favourite to win the title, missed her last forehand, Lucic-Baroni was overcome with emotion.

She knelt down in the middle of Rod Laver Arena, crossed her chest and then sobbed with her face planted into the court.

“I can’t believe this,” Lucic-Baroni said moments later. “This is crazy, the only thing I can say is ‘God is good’. I can’t believe it, I’m in semi-finals again. I feel in shock right now.

“One day I will say a long, big story about things that happened to me but I could never dream about being here again.

“I know this means a lot to any player, reaching the semi-finals, but to me this is overwhelming. I will never, ever, ever forget this day and this last couple of weeks.

“This has truly made my life and everything bad that happened, it makes it okay. Just the fact I was this strong and it was worth fighting this hard is really incredible.”

Lucic-Baroni will now face Serena Williams, who beat Britain’s Johanna Konta 6-2 6-3 to reach the last four of a grand slam for the 34th time.

Venus Williams plays another American Coco Vandeweghe in the other semi-final, also on Friday.