Andy Murray

And his reward: a meeting with Novak Djokovic, world number one in the final. Djokovic had beaten French man, Jeremy Chardy. In addition, the victory will make Murray jump over Swiss veteran, Roger Federer, in the Emirates ATP Rankings as world number two on Monday, his best ranking since August 2013.

“It’s good to get back close to the top. I’ll keep working hard and try to get that one spot higher,”said Murray after the match with Nishikori.

The second-seeded Scot, who secured his place in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals the night prior, was ruthless on return, converting six of 11 break points in the 65-minute affair. He broke Nishikori in six of seven service games, capturing 20 of 25 points on the Japanese’s second serve. Murray extended his winning streak in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events to 10 straight, having hoisted the trophy in Madrid earlier this year (d. Nadal).

The pair exchanged breaks midway through the first set and Murray would secure a third break of serve in the opener to take a decisive 5-3 lead. In the second set, he earned an initial break from 30/0 down, taking the ball early and not allowing Nishikori any rhythm off the ground. He would win 12 of the last 13 points to clinch his spot in the final opposite Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic owns a 19-8 advantage in the FedEx ATP Head2Head, having claimed eight straight decisions since the 2013 Wimbledon final.

Murray has won two titles at this Masters 1000 event, in 2009-2010. He defeated Juan Martin del Potro in ’09 and retained his crown in beating Federer the following year. He now owns a 5-1 lead over Nishikori, having not dropped a set in two meetings this year.

“I think I’m more tired,” admitted Nishikori. “Everything was sore these couple of days. Today it got a little bit worst so I couldn’t really move 100 per cent.

“Especially after the first set, I was feeling it more and more. At the beginning of the first set I was okay, but after that I wasn’t the same player.” 
*Originally reported by ATPWorldtour.com