Swiss top seed Federer is on his way to defending his title at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 competition after he overcame Japan's Kei Nishikori in straight sets.

Federer was pushed in the second set but played five winners in six points to win via a tiebreak and take the match.

It finished 6-4, 7-6 in an hour and 52 minutes.

Federer will play Croatia's Borna Coric in tomorrow's semi-finals after the young player defeated Matthew Ebden of Australia.

The 21-year-old also secured his place in the semi-finals in straight sets, winning 7-5, 6-4.

Ebden made mistakes in the match, serving five double faults to send the Croat into his second career Masters 1000 semi-final.

Djokovic is also through after the second seed beat South Africa's Kevin Anderson in one hour and 42 minutes.

In another straight sets match, the Serbian managed to down his seventh seeded opponent despite Anderson's 16 aces.

The match finished 7-6, 6-3 to Djokovic who will face Zverev in the next round.

The German got the better of Great Britain's Kyle Edmund.

Edmund had a slight advantage in the percentage of first serves in but only won 38 per cent of his second serve points.

On the other hand, Zverev took his chances and converted both of his break point opportunities to take the win 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and ten minutes.

Looking ahead to the semi-finals, Zverev has some statistical advantages over the former world number one.

He is a decade younger than Djokovic and has won their only career meeting to date, and is seeded fourth in Shanghai.