Roger Federer's trademark poise under pressure has propelled him into his 10th straight Australian Open semi-final after a high-class five-set battle with power-packed Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The athletic Muhammad Ali look-alike went shot for shot with the four-time Open champion throughout Wednesday night's quarter-final, with only a few critical points separating them as the Swiss great won 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-3.
It booked the second seed an enticing semi-final match-up with third seed Andy Murray on Friday night.
The Scot beat Federer in last year's Olympic Games gold medal match, after Federer had downed Murray in the Wimbledon final to claim his 17th major title.
With top seed Novak Djokovic and fourth seed David Ferrer through to Thursday night's semi, it means the top four seeds are the last four survivors in the men's draw for just the 15th time in a major in the open era.