Nadal is barreling through Australian Open draw

Rafael Nadal already has joined elite company with his tender-aged exploits. The reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion is one win away from adding his name to another rarefied group.

With a victory in Friday's Australian Open semifinals, the Spaniard could become the sixth man in the post-1968 Open era to reach the final in three of the four Grand Slams by age 22. Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg are the others.

Wednesday night, Nadal dispatched a quality opponent in No. 6 seed Gilles Simon of France 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 to reach his second consecutive semifinal at the Australian Open.

He next meets fellow lefty and Davis Cup teammate Fernando Verdasco, who continued his surprising run through the draw with a 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against 2008 runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.

Nadal is 6-0 vs. Verdasco, and he has dropped only one set in those meetings.