Saturday 4 October 2014 08:51, UK
Andy Murray eased into the last four of the ATP China Open with a 6-1 6-4 victory over reigning US Open champion Marin Cilic.
The British No 1 booked a semi-final showdown with Novak Djokovic after comfortably coming through in one hour and 38 minutes at the National Tennis Centre in Beijing.
The result also means Murray – who continues to build on his triumph at the Shenzen Open last week – has now won 10 of the 12 meetings between the pair.
Their latest clash will not go down as a classic, with Cilic particularly shaky during a first set that saw him hold his opening service game but then fail to do so from then on.
Murray broke for the first time to go 2-1 ahead, a backhand slice tempting Cilic to hit his response into the net, and then stretched his lead in the fifth game courtesy of some excellent defensive work.
That wasn't to say he was having things all his way on Lotus Court - the sixth seed was forced to save two break points on his own serve in the following game before eventually holding for 5-1.
Cilic rather gifted his rival the set with two poor shots, the first of them a poorly-placed overhead that allowed the Scot to run around on his backhand side and flash a winner down the line before a long forehand sealed a 1-0 lead for Murray.
The Croatian did manage to hold at the start of the second set but unforced errors continued to undermine his attempts to find a break.
Murray was able to escape from a spot of bother in the third game when a backhand slice from the fourth seed drifted long, though he was now finding it tougher to make an impact against the powerful Cilic serve.
Yet when it mattered one of Cilic's most effective of weapons let him down. Having handed his rival three match-point chances in the 10th game when he quickly fell 0-40 behind, he could only meekly volley into the net when he seemed set to win the next point, a shot that rather summed up his below-par performance.
Djokovic, meanwhile, kept himself on course for a fifth title in China with a 6-2 6-4 success over Grigor Dimitrov in the first quarter-final.
The top seed broke in the fourth and eight games of the first set and while Bulgarian Dimitrov did put up more of a fight in the second, he was unable to stop the Serbian from stretching his record to 22-0 on the blue hard courts.
Djokovic expects another tough encounter against Murray, whom he holds a 13-8 winning record against.
"I've seen a little bit of his matches this week. He's hitting the ball very well," admitted the Serb.
"Every time I play him, it's a huge challenge. It's a very physical match, a lot of long rallies. I do not expect anything less tomorrow."
You can watch both semi-finals of the ATP China Open LIVE on Sky Sports 3 HD from 5.30am on Saturday
