Top 4 Reach Shanghai Masters Semis

The top 4 seeds Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Thomas Berdych all reached the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters overnight.

Federer beat Croatia’s Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-4 and will now play two time defending champion Murray. Murray came off a hard fought win against a tenacious Radek Stepanek outlasting the Czech 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. At one point he was staring down the face of defeat after going a set down but recovered well to win the match and improve his record to 11-0 in the tournament.

“I just managed to turn it around in time,” the 25 year old Scot said. “I played actually very well I thought the last 10, 15 minutes of the match.”

Stepanek dominated the first set, denying Murray an opportunity to break serve. However Murray bounced back in the second set, breaking serve to lead 4-2. Stepanek then had two opportunities to try and break back but the US Open champion held his nerve and did not surrender his lead.

“It was quite a scrappy first couple of sets. Obviously the second set I managed to get a break, got a bit of momentum” Murray said. “For me, the beginning of the third set was what was most frustrating.”

Murray beat Federer in their last meeting, the Olympic final and also triumphed over the Swiss world number one in the Shanghai tournament in 2010.

“I assume he’s very confident right now and probably playing with a little less pressure,” Federer said. “Then again, that can go either way. It’s been a long year for all of us.”

Meanwhile, Djokovic cruised into the semi-final with an easy 6-3, 6-3 victory over German veteran Tommy Haas. The Serb world number two was never troubled against Haas as he sets his eyes firmly on trumping Federer to the world number one spot. He will now play Berdych who beat France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a tightly fought 6-3, 7-6 contest.

Tsonga was undone by two unfortunate mistakes, which ultimately cost him the match. The first a shaky service game in the first set in which he lost to love giving Berdych a crucial break in the eighth game of the match. The second, a double fault at 4-4 in the tiebreak of the second set, which paved the way for the Czech to go on and grab the victory.

“I was feeling quite well on the court,” Berdych said. “I think the biggest difference between me and Jo was I was able to take the small chances during the first and especially the second set.”

Both players are eyeing off a spot in next month’s ATP World Tour Finals in London. Currently, Berdych lies in sixth sport in the race to the tournament while Tsonga is eighth. If successful they will join Federer, Murray, Djokovic and the injured Rafael Nadal who have already qualified for London.

Federer’s third round win against Swiss team-mate Stanislas Wawrinka secured him a record 300^th week at the top of the world rankings when they are next published on Monday.