Murray tops Federer, makes Shanghai final

SHANGHAI, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Andy Murray, looking for a third consecutive title at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, defeated world No. 1 Roger Federer in Saturday's semifinals.

Murray faced just one break point en route to a 6-4, 6-4 win over Federer and will go against second-ranked Novak Djokovic -- who was a 6-3, 6-4 semifinal winner over fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych -- in Sunday title match. Murray defeated Federer for the 2010 title in Shanghai and topped David Ferrer in last year's final.

Saturday's match was the fourth time this year that Murray and Federer met, with Federer winning finals at Dubai and Wimbledon and Murray taking the last two in the Olympic gold medal match and Shanghai.

Murray opened the match by breaking Federer but Federer immediately broke back. However, Murray broke at love for a 3-2 lead and held from there for the first set.

The match was stopped twice because of rain, the first time at the end of a long game to open the second set. Federer held there but Murray grabbed the advantage with a break in the fifth game.

Murray was serving for the match when play was 36 minutes stopped to close the arena roof. When play resumed it took Murray just five points to first the win.

Djokovic, who has had an amazing tournament serving, won nearly three-quarters of the points on serve against Berdych and cashed in all three of his break chances. The win improved Djokovic's record to 11-1 against Berdych.

Djokovic owns an 8-7 series edge over Murray but Murray has won three of the last four meetings. That includes the U.S. Open final, a five-set victory that gave Murray his first Grand Slam title.