Top seed Novak Djokovic is two wins from repeating his last year’s ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris success.
The world no.1 powered into his 43rd tour-level semi-final with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over eighth seed Andy Murray in one hour and 41 minutes on Friday evening.
It was the Serb’s seventh win over the Brit in their last eight meetings.
Novak broke Andy in the 12th game of the opening set to take it 7-5 in 64 minutes.
After Djokovic missed three chances to break in the second game of the second set, Murray converted his opportunity for a 2-1 advantage. The lead was short-lived, as Nole broke back immediately and proceeded to win five straight games to seal the victory.
“The first set was very close,” Novak told Sky Sports. “I had some break point chances and held my service games pretty well, then I got a crucial break at the end of the first. He was a break up in the second, but then he hit some double faults and allowed me back in. After that, I started swinging through and felt much better.”
Match statistics: aces (1-6), double faults (1-3), winners (12-20), unforced errors (24-36), total points won (70-52).
The two-time Paris titlist will go for a fourth Masters 1000 final appearance this year when he takes on no.6 seed Kei Nishikori of Japan (1-2 record) in the BNP Paribas Masters semis on Saturday (17.00 CET).
Nishikori, the 2014 US Open finalist, toppled last year’s Paris Masters runner-up David Ferrer 3-6, 7-6, 6-4.
Tomas Berdych (5) faces Milos Raonic (7) in the first semi-final match (14.30 CET).
Novak is chasing his 20th Masters title this week. He is third in all-time list, behind Rafael Nadal (27) and Roger Federer (23). The 27-year-old Belgrade native was crowned champion in the French capital in 2009 (d. Monfils) and 2013 (d. Ferrer).
You can download Nole November Desktop Wallpaper here.
Photo: Getty Images
