Rafael Nadal looked back to his best with a sensational performance against Milos Raonic in the Australian Open quarter-finals.

The Spaniard was simply too good for his Canadian opponent, running out as a straight sets winner - 6-4 7-6 6-4.

A closely-fought first set was settled when Nadal broke Raonic's serve at 5-4* to move into a one-set lead.

But it was the second set where Nadal really laid down a marker. The Spaniard saved a remarkable six set points, toughing his way through a tie break to leave Raonic needing a five-set comeback to reach what would have been the third Grand Slam semi-final of his career.

However, Nadal was relentless in the third set and won the match against the serve to reach the last four of a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2014 French Open.

Nadal will face Dimitrov in the semi-finals, with the possibility of a final against Roger Federer on the horizon.