MELBOURNE, Australia : Defending Champion Novak Djokovic and 2011 Australian Open finalist Andy Murray have managed to make their way to the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2012 . Both, Murray and Djokovic had to fight extremely hard to turn down their opponents. But they successfully stood up to the challenge and ensured their spots in the Open's semis.

[4] A Murray (GBR) def. [24] K Nishikori (JPN)

If it's possible to be relaxed and vulnerable at the same time, Andy Murray was that tennis beast on a mild afternoon on Rod Laver Arena as he booked his third consecutive semi-final place in the Australian Open  with a straight sets win over the promising Japanese player Kei Nishikori.

The opening Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open was founded in 1905. This year the tournament takes place from January 16-29 at Melbourne.

On Day 10 of the Australian Open, Indian pair Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi cruised into the semi-finals of mixed doubles event by beating the English-American combine of Colin Fleming and Liezel Huber in straight sets 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.

The first set went right down to the wire with some resilience from the American-British duo but the Indian pair asserted their supremacy in the second set to win the contest that lasted one hour and twenty-four minutes.

As England removed Pakistan’s top order, first day of Test 2, Pakistan seemed to stumble, came to the rescue Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq’s wonderful partnership which stabilized Pakistan’s stand, then what seemed to have been steadily falling wickets. Asad Shafiq shined with 58 runs off 126 balls. Initially, not many expected Shafiq to play such a wonderful piece of innings.

All in all it’s been a wonderful innings from this young man, and has to a great extend raised the level of expectations of fans and followers for the coming days of Test 2.

Interestingly, a day that started off with expectations of a run-fest ended with England precariously on top. Pakistan would’ve liked to add a few more runs to the total but given their captain’s approach to this form of the game and the fact that he is still out there in the middle, should make England uneasy.

When the play resumed after tea, both teams had a good chance to seize the initiative. Panesar and Broad started with a renewed vigor but Misbah and Asad Shafiq continued to push the score forward with their multiplexed approach of aggression and defense.

Swann’s introduction after tea did little initially, as Asad took the game away from England by forging a 100-run partenership with Misbah-ul-Haq. He perished for 58 with the new ball just around the corner, trying to heave Swann over mid-wicket and the ball hitting his back pad marginally inside off-stump as he failed to connect.