The rise and rise of Chilean Fernando Gonzalez at the Australian Open continued as he gave world No.2 Rafael Nadal a good old-fashioned belting to advance to the semi-finals.

Gonzalez, who ousted Australia's Lleyton Hewitt with a near faultless display earlier in the tournament, found rarefied air again in his 6-2 6-4 6-3 dismantling of Nadal - the man considered most likely to challenge Roger Federer for the Open title.

Instead, that man may now be Gonzalez.

The No.10 seed set the tone by breaking Nadal twice early, then unleashed forehand winner after forehand winner to reduce the Spaniard to rubble.

Only German Tommy Haas stands between Gonzalez and a shot at his first grand slam title.

Haas earlier upset third seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 2-6 1-6 6-1 7-5 to book a semi-final showdown with Gonzalez on Friday.

Gonzalez admitted after his win in two hours, five minutes, that he has never played better tennis than he has in Melbourne.

"I don't think so (that I've ever played better tennis). I'm enjoying this very much because I'm playing great tennis," he said.

"Hopefully I can continue like this for the rest of this tournament."

Meanwhile, Haas gave himself a fearful talking-to before regaining his cool and advancing to the semi-finals.

Haas saved a match point before avenging his five-set defeat by Davydenko at the same stage of last year's US Open.

Davydenko dramatically saved a match point in the final game when he successfully challenged a linesman's ruling that his backhand had flown out rather than clipping the baseline.

But he could do nothing when the 12th-seeded Haas closed out the match in three hours and 19 minutes later in that game.

Davydenko had earlier squandered a match point of his own, tamely netting a backhand return in the 10th game off a Haas second serve.

In a career spanning 34 majors over 12 years, Haas's only previous grand slam semi-finals were at the 1999 and 2002 Australian Opens.

Davydenko was surprised to hear the German castigate himself during the changeover after winning only one game in the third set.

"I thought Haas was becoming crazy," said Davydenko.

"He was speaking to himself because nobody else was talking.

"He was saying something like he can't play good in Australia anymore.

"I was surprised when he talked about changing games."

Haas admitted he lost his head midway through the encounter.

"My eyes got watery and the shade started coming," he said.

"So it was a few things that kept going into my head.

"There were pigeons flying around the stadium and I was focusing on many other things as I sometimes do."

Haas was pleased to finally get the better of a Russian at the business end of an Australian Open, having lost to eventual champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the 1999 semis and to Marat Safin in the last four in 2002.

It was the third time in as many years that Davydenko had bowed out at the quarter-final stage at Melbourne Park.

In Friday's other semi-final, Federer takes on American sixth seed Andy Roddick.

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