SHANGHAI — World No. 1 Novak Djokovic continued his dominance of the Chinese hardcourts by swatting aside a mis-firing Andy Murray 6-1, 6-3 to reach the final of the Shanghai Masters Saturday. The Serbian will take on Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final Sunday after the 16th seed recorded a 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 win over Rafa Nadal, his first in almost four years against the Spaniard. The 30-year-old Frenchman was delighted with his scintillating display featuring 40 winners, mainly from a fearsome forehand, but will have to find yet another gear if he is to upset Djokovic Sunday. The 10-time Grand Slam champion is aiming for his third Shanghai title on the back of securing his sixth China Open crown last week when he dismantled Nadal in the Beijing final. Briton Murray, twice a champion in Shanghai, knew a fast start was necessary if he was to upset his long term foe but he did just the opposite. The world No.2 served a paltry 43 percent of first serves in the opening set, offered four double faults and 17 unforced errors as he was broken in three straight games to concede the opener. He rebounded at the start of the second by breaking Djokovic to 15 and hustled and harried in trademark gamely fashion but the small bit of momentum was lost as he gave away his next service game. The Serb was imperious from the back of the court and broke again before serving out comfortably to improve his head-to-head record to 20-9 over Murray. The Frenchman fired down 11 aces to record his first win over Nadal since the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals and move up to ninth in his bid to qualify again for the eight man end-of-season championships in London. Nadal, a winner of 14 Grand Slam singles titles, struggled to cope with Tsonga in the opening set as the Frenchman pressured the Spaniard's serve with some heavy hitting. He secured the break in the fifth game at the third time of asking but after going on to serve out the set, Tsonga's game crumbled in the second set as Nadal easily leveled without dropping a game to force a decider. Nadal, looking for a first hard court title in almost two years, was forced to save some early break points but the third set remained on serve until Tsonga struck in the 11th game of an enthralling encounter. The 30-year-old Frenchman produced an eye-catching dive volley to force match point, which he converted to reach his first Masters final since he triumphed in Toronto last year. Radwanska in final Agnieszka Radwanska is one win away from sealing her spot at the WTA Finals after beating Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-1 to reach the final of the Tianjin Open Saturday. The second-seeded Pole will reach the WTA Finals in Singapore if she captures the Tianjin title. Radwanska broke the third-seeded Pliskova's serve four times and saved both break points she faced to prevail in 66 minutes. She will play Danka Kovinic in the final after the Montenegrin beat Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-2. Kovinic is the first Montenegrin to reach the final of a WTA Tour event. Jankovic upsets Venus Fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic defeated third-seeded Venus Williams 6-4, 7-5 Saturday in the semifinals of the Hong Kong Open. The Serb saved 14 of 16 break points against Williams. Second-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany beat fifth-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-2 in the other semifinal. Kerber is chasing her fifth WTA singles title this year after victories in Charleston, Stuttgart, Birmingham and Stanford. Pavlyuchenkova in semis Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Serbian qualifier Aleksandra Krunic 6-3, 6-3 at the Generali Ladies Friday to advance to her third semifinal of the season. The seventh-seeded Russian will take on Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium for a place in Sunday's final. Johanna Larsson of Sweden and Anna-Lena Friedsam will contest Saturday's other semifinal. The 110th-ranked Flipkens beat Denisa Allertova of Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4. Earlier, Larsson defeated Madison Brengle 7-5, 7-6 (6). — Ahencies
