Roger Federer will come up against top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters following a straight sets victory over Julien Benneteau on Friday.

The 17-time grand slam winner needed tie-breaks to take the first set against Benneteau but was in a class of his own to win the second set to love and seal a 7-6, 6-0 win over the Frenchman in 70 minutes to reach his 52nd career Masters 1000 semi-final.

The Swissman will however now face Djokovic who won a 29th successive match at the event with a 6-4, 6-2 win over fifth seed David Ferrer as the world number one aims for a third successive triumph in Shanghai.

Ferrer posed little threat to stop Djokovic, as the Spaniard’s serve was broken in just the second game by the Serb who also saved two break points to win the first set, before breaking Ferrer’s serve again early in the second set and easing to the win after getting another break in the penultimate game.

Meanwhile Frenchman Gilles Simon will meet Feliciano Lopez in the first semi-final in Shanghai after beating Tomas Berdych 7-6, 4-6, 6-0 in a quarterfinal encounter on Friday.