Agencies
Shanghai, October 11
Roger Federer beat defending champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets to set up a final against Gilles Simon at the Shanghai Masters.
Djokovic was looking to complete a hat-trick of wins at the tournament having won the title for the past two years, but found his old nemesis in sparkling form.
One break in either set was enough for Federer to complete a 6-4 6-4 victory in one hour and 35 minutes and move him into a 18-17 lead in their career head-to-head.The Swiss maestro broke in the fifth game of the opener, Djokovic netting a backhand following a low sliced approach from Federer who attacked the net throughout.
He remained solid on his own delivery and closed out the set with a hold to 30 following his fifth ace of the contest.
Federer then took a stranglehold on proceedings by breaking in the first game of the second set - the 17-time grand slam champion firing a pinpoint forehand into a corner with his opponent stranded in the other.
Djokovic was forced to survive four more break-points in the fifth game before coming through and then launched an offensive of his own on the Federer serve in the eighth game.
The Swiss was taken to five deuces before confirming his hold, but that would prove his final scare as he held to 30 in his following service game to seal a fine victory.
Federer told Sky Sports afterwards, "It was a great match; I moved well, I served well, returned well, volleyed well and moved up to the net well so everything clicked."
Asked if it was as well as he’d played all year, he added, “Possibly, it was a bit over one and a half hours of great quality tennis, but not to be broken against Novak under the circumstances, I’m just unbelievably happy."
Simon impressively booked his place in the with a convincing straight sets victory over Feliciano Lopez.
The Frenchman excelled in all areas of his game as he ran out a 6-2 7-6 (7/1) winner, meaning that Lopez has now lost in all three of his semi-final appearances at the event.
The Spaniard started in tentative fashion and his errors were quickly leapt upon by Simon who broke in the third game for a 2-1 lead.
Lopez continued to struggle on his own delivery - managing just 53% of first serves in during the opening set – and it was little surprise when he coughed up a double-fault to hand his opponent a second break of serve and a 4-1 lead.
Serving at 5-2, Simon then duly held to love to close out the first set, an ace down the middle getting the job done with just 25 minutes on the clock.
Lopez did raise his game in the second set and showed commendable fight to come through a nine-and-a-half minute service game, which featured seven deuces and two break-points, to hold for a 2-1 lead.
The set would remain on serve, but it was Simon who proved much too strong in the ensuing tie-break.
The Frenchman set the tone by immediately claiming a mini-break with a superb backhand return winner across court and quickly built a commanding 4-0 lead.
Lopez was unable to respond, Simon clinching victory and a final showdown with Federer when the Spaniard sent an attempted backhand well long.
