France, Jan. 25 -- NovakDjokovic advanced to the last four at the Australian Open on Wednesday with a clinical straight sets destruction of the fifth seed Andrey Rublev.

Djokovic, hunting a record-extending 10th title at the tournament, won 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours on Rod Laver Arena to reach a showdown with the unseeded American Tommy Paul who progressed to his first semi-final at a Grand Slam competition with a four-set win over his compatriot Ben Shelton.

"I love these conditions and this court," said Djokovic. "It's very special. Overall, I think the scoreline in the first two sets doesn't reflect the match - we had some very close games. I knew what the game plan was and if I had to sum it up ... on the most important points and ...