Murray to meet Federer

Tennis : Andy Murray will play Roger Federer in the final of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday after the Scot made light work of…

Tennis: Andy Murray will play Roger Federer in the final of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday after the Scot made light work of his semi-final against Juan Monaco, winning 6-4 6-1.

The British number one will now face the man who beat him in this year's Australian Open final, after the Swiss saw off the in-form Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-4.

In the first semi-final, Murray started strongly before losing his way a little midway through the first set but turned things around to dominate proceedings in the second half of the match.

The Scot looked in control in the opening skirmishes and broke first to put his opponent on the back foot.

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But, having looked likely to take a stranglehold on the set, he conceded his own serve to Monaco with a double fault.

Then, at 5-4 to Murray and with Monaco serving to level the scores, came the decisive moment.

Murray lost a string mid-rally and looked certain to surrender the point but instead lofted a succession of defensive lobs, each of which Monaco failed to put away.

His frustration growing, the Argentinian attempted a riskier shot and promptly hit it too wide to make it 15-15.

The mistake gave Murray all the momentum and shattered Monaco's confidence as he made unforced errors twice more on his way to losing game and set.

The Scot became even more dominant in the second set, taking his first two service games with little or no resistance and nicking a break at the first attempt as Monaco continued to make unnecessary mistakes.

At 3-0 down in the second set Monaco summoned the trainer, a brief interval but one that seemed to settle his nerves as he took the next game with a more solid approach.

It was not enough to halt Murray, though, with another straightforward service game making it 4-1.

A further break allowed Murray the chance to serve for a place in the final and he did so emphatically, winning the game to love and closing out with a rare ace.

Looking ahead to the final, Murray told Sky Sports: "I enjoy playing Roger, it's a great experience every time against him. It's always great fun."

Federer gained revenge for his US Open semi-final defeat to Djokovic with a straight-sets win in the following match.

The world number three had blown two match points in that clash in New York but this time it was Federer who played the big points the better.

Djokovic was unable to convert any of his four break points in the first set and instead allowed Federer to secure the first break of serve in the 11th game.

He duly served out and immediately went ahead in the second set.

Federer led by a double break at 4-1 but although Djokovic recovered one of the breaks he could not prevent his rival serving out to love.