Scorching Stan Wawrinka blasts Kei Nishikori to advance to Aussie Open semis

Something about the air in Melbourne does strange, diabolical things to Stan Wawrinka. 

The world No. 4, defending his Australian Open title, was remorseless in his destruction of No. 5 Kei Nishikori in their quarterfinal match on Wednesday, riding a blistering service game to a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(6) win. 

The last time these two had met, they played five physical, brutally competitive sets at this exact stage of the U.S. Open. That time, it was Nishikori raising his arms after the last point was won. 

Wawrinka was apparently on a mission to make sure that didn't happen again, and he played some of the cleanest, meanest tennis of his life. His serve has always been a weapon, but rarely has it ever been this lethal. Nishikori could barely send it back, let alone turn his return points into break opportunities. Wawrinka cracked 20 aces, and won an obscene 86 percent of his first-serve points. 

Nishikori, by contrast, hardly picked up any free points with his serve, and even when he was winning points he seemed to be working way harder for them. 

Riding a wave of confidence after an early break and some huge winners out of the gate, Wawrinka started unloading on the backhand side, and whether he took it up the line or went crosscourt, he couldn't seem to miss. Like clockwork, he yo-yo'ed Nishikori from sideline to sideline, and as soon as he opened up enough court, would put him away.  

Nishikori's a fighter. So even with an opponent playing virtually unassailable tennis, he managed to will himself to an early break in the third set, his first of the match, on just his fourth (and final) opportunity. 

But Wawrinka shrugged it off and came right back with a break of his own, capped by a scorching backhand pass, then held at love to put the pressure squarely back on Nishikori's shoulders. The two exchanged holds the rest of the way, leaving the set to be decided in a tiebreaker. 

It was the same story in the breaker, with Wawrinka delivering three aces, sprinting out to a 6-1 lead and giving himself five match points. Nishikori, amazingly, saved all five, with two of them coming on Wawrinka's serve. The two changed ends.

Nishikori came out of the changeover with a new lease on life, and the ball on his racket at 6-6. He got himself well ahead in the point. Then he tried for a ballsy drop shot that he'd certainly love to have back. 

Wawrinka got the ball back to serve for his sixth match point, and this time made no mistake. He fired an ace right up the T, and was on his way to the semifinals.