SHANGHAI: Andy Murray heaped the misery on Roger Federer yesterday, taking advantage of an astonishing service meltdown by the Swiss great to set up a mouthwatering final against Novak Djokovic.
The US Open champion, who has never been beaten at the Chinese tournament, won 6-4, 6-4, repeating his victory in the Olympic final that came after the searing pain of defeat to Federer just weeks earlier at Wimbledon.
Murray faced an agonising wait of more than half an hour to serve for the match as the roof was closed at the Qi Zhong Stadium after it started raining and an army of people descended on the court to dry the playing surface.
The players left the court and had to knock up again but Murray kept his nerve to serve out for victory, sealing the match when Federer netted.
Earlier, in-form Djokovic accelerated his push for the year-end number one ranking, dismissing the challenge of fourth seed Tomas Berdych in a one-sided match.
The Serbian second seed came into the clash with an impressive 9-1 lead against the Czech player in head-to-head match-ups and immediately took charge, dominating the contest to win 6-3, 6-4. — AFP