(CNN) - Top seed and world number one Rafael Nadal of Spain has been knocked out of the Australian Open by compatriot and "friend" David Ferrer.
Hampered by a thigh strain from the beginning of Wednesday`s quarterfinal, the nine-time grand slam champion was visibly suffering as he went down 6-4 6-2 6-3 at Melbourne`s Rod Laver Arena to his Davis Cup teammate.
Ferrer`s triumph - his fourth over Nadal from 15 encounters - will now see the 28-year-old gaming in but his second grand slam semifinal, following his show in the final four of the U.S. Open in 2007.
The global number seven will face Britain`s Andy Murray for a seat in the last of the opening grand sweep of 2011, after the worldwide number five beat unseeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov in the earlier match.
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The event also means the end to 24-year-old Nadal`s quest to get the foremost man since Australia`s Rod Laver in 1969, to win four consecutive grand slam titles.
Nadal was clearly moved by a thigh problem during the couple but, despite receiving off-court treatment after only the third game, refused to pick the red on his injury.
The Mallorcan was rather full of praise for his opponent, who broke serve in the opening game on his way to winning the maiden set, when his spoke to reporters after the match.
"For obedience to the victor and to a friend, I choose to talking about the match," Nadal said.
"It is obvious that I didn`t look at my best. I had a job during the match, at the real beginning. I really couldn`t do more than what I did. He played at a really high level, and I wasn`t able to contend against him tonight."
Nadal showed flashes of his usual brilliance but any risk of a return in the bit set was smothered by Ferrer, who after a 10-minute gap in transactions for an Australia Day fireworks display, secured a double fault of service to take the pit by two sets to love.
Ferrer then raced to a 3-0 lead in what was to be the 3rd and final set, before wrapping up the ultimately one-sided contest in just over two and a half hours.
"I just congratulate him and bid him all the better for the semifinal. I believe he`s doing a grand tournament," Nadal added. "If he keeps playing like this, he`s going to experience a serious chance."
But Ferrer, who is unbeaten so far this season having won the Australian Open warm-up tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, said he could not be complacent if he wants to get the in-form Murray.
"I played very consistently all the 3 sets and I was focused just in my game. I desire to love this moment," Ferrer told the official ATP Tour website.
"I will try to do my best, but I want to represent very consistently, stay very focused all the match, because Andy`s a top player."
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Murray dropped his firstly set of the tournament so far to world number 46 Dolgopolov, before finally winning 7-5 6-3 6-7 6-3.
The 22-year-old Dolgopolov has been a revelation in Australia, defeating 2008 runner-up Jo Wilfred Tsonga and two-time French Open finalist Robin Soderling on the way to his first grand slam quarterfinal.
"I thinking I dealt with his game well. It was just hard to get into a rhythm. I did quite a lot of running," Murray said.
"He won a lot of free points off his first serve. It was a bad match. I thinking I dealt with it passably well."
Murray is aiming to make his second consecutive final in Melbourne after losing to Roger Federer in 2010, and the third grand slam final of his career after also facing the Swiss in the 2008 U.S. Open final.
But the 23-year-old, who is also trying to get the first Briton to win a major title since Fred Perry in 1936, conceded that his quarterfinal opponent could show a menace to him in future competitions.
"With his game style, he`s going to have a lot of guys problems. He might be a small bit inconsistent from sentence to time but when his game`s on, I`m sure he`ll get deep into grand slams and the big tournaments just because of how tricky his plot is," the Scot added.
In the other semifinal defending champion Roger Federer will play third seed Novak Djokovic, after both made it through their quarterfinal ties on Thursday.
World number two Federer is aiming to take his 17th grand slam title, while the 23-year-old Serb is gunning for his back after taking in Australia in 2008.
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