Andy Murray produced a devastating display to rout Tomas Berdych and set up a Shanghai Masters semi-final clash with Novak Djokovic.
Berdych has given Murray a lot of trouble in the past and had won six of their previous 12 meetings.
But the Czech was left bewildered by the brilliance of Murray as the world number two triumphed 6-1 6-3.
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Murray told Sky Sports 3: “I felt like I dictated all match and, against someone who hits the ball as big as Tomas, that’s not always easy to do.
“I felt like I wasn’t having to do much defending – I was really going for my shots. In the second set I felt could have won all of the games.
“I’m very happy with the performance and it’s good to conserve some energy before (Saturday).”
Berdych, who is coached by Murray’s former right-hand man Dani Vallverdu, held serve in the opening game of the match but from there the Scot took over.
A forehand wide from Berdych gave Murray his first break of serve for 2-1, and the Scot then came through a test when he confidently saved two break points.
He made it three breaks and six games in a row to take the opening set, with Murray’s clean hitting and accuracy from the baseline simply too much for Berdych to handle.
It was not until he was 3-0 down in the second set that Berdych finally stopped the rot after losing nine games in a row. But Murray was not about to allow a shift in momentum and served out the victory after an hour and 19 minutes.
Djokovic has not lost a set since the US Open final, winning the title in Beijing last week and moving smoothly into the last four in Shanghai.
Murray trails the world number one 19-9 in their head-to-head but ended an eight-match losing run in their last meeting in Canada in August.
“It will be an extremely tough match,” Murray said. “Novak has played great tennis all year but especially the last couple of weeks. We’ve played some great matches before in Masters series.”