Rafael Nadal has limped out of the Australian tennis Open, wrecking his bid to hold all four Grand Slam titles concurrently.
A tearful world number one suffered an apparent hamstring injury in only the third game of his quarter-final against his good friend and fellow Spaniard David Ferrer, who showed no mercy and raced through the one-sided match 6-4 6-2 6-3.
Nadal's Australian Open challenge last year ended at the same stage when he retired hurt against Andy Murray.
The Scot has made the semi-finals again in Melbourne, having ended the brilliant debut of the unseeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov in four sets.
The women's semi-final lineup is complete after straightforward quarter-final wins for the second and third seeds Vera Zvonareva and Kim Clijsters.
