Swiss second seed Stan Wawrinka has advanced into the semi-finals at the Toronto Masters with a comprehensive 6-1 6-3 victory over big-serving South African Kevin Anderson.

Wawrinka raced into a 4-0 lead as he swept through the opening set in 30 minutes, and then overcame tougher resistance by Anderson in the second before wrapping up the win in one hour, 14 minutes.

The 31-year-old from Lausanne, who hit 14 winners and lost only five of his first service points, will next face Japanese third seed Kei Nishikori, who battled past unseeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 3-6 6-2 in the last eight.

“I started really well from the first game,” said Wawrinka, a two-times grand slam champion who is seeking his 15th ATP World Tour title.

“It showed me that I was ready, aggressive, moving really well.

“It’s one of the best matches of the year I played, I think. I was calm. Serving really good. Mixing a lot. I was reading the game well, good in defence and found a way to come back and attack.”

Nishikori, who reached the final in Miami and the last four in both Madrid and Rome in ATP Masters 1000 events earlier this season, beat Dimitrov in a see-sawing encounter that lasted just over two hours.

Later on Friday, top-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic was scheduled to meet Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych before local favourite Milos Raonic, the fourth seed, takes on Frenchman Gael Monfils.