Shanghai: World number three Roger Federer beat Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-4 on Saturday to set up a mouthwatering Shanghai Masters final against a resurgent Andy Murray.
The Serbian second seed Djokovic had hoped to secure his second title of the week after winning the China Open on Monday but squandered four break points in the first set against the Swiss.
Federer, 29, has faced Murray twice this year, beating him in the final of the Australian Open but losing out to the Briton for the Toronto Masters title in August.
"The conditions are pretty much the same as in Toronto which is going to make for a very tough and physical match," Federer said of the Shanghai final. "Andy has much more of a feel when he plays with his slice. He finds a way into the point which is very different from Novak. That creates a different type of attacking plan and the way I need to play," added the third seed.
Murray said he was looking forward to playing Federer again. "It's a great experience every time," the Scot told reporters after his 6-4 6-1 win over Argentine Juan Monaco. "When I played him in the Toronto final, I was a lot more aggressive and didn't give him many chances to dictate the points, especially on my serve. "That's something that I need to do against him if I want to beat him," added Murray, who has recovered from a recent illness and has yet drop a set in the tournament.
Several times he drew Monaco to the net before launching booming backhands or lobs towards the exposed baseline, even breaking his racket strings on one return to foil the stunned Argentine.
Crowd favourite Murray took one hour 25 minutes to see off his former training partner, sealing the match with an ace.
Djokovic will swap places in the world rankings with Federer after his loss, moving down from second to third. "Roger deserved to win," the Serbian said. "It was a very intense first set and I didn't use the chances that I had. When he got his first or second breakpoint he used it and finished off the set 7-5. "I lost my focus a little bit and my energy dropped at the start of the second set. In the blink of an eye, I was two breaks down at 4-1 so it was very hard to get back from that situation."
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