Federer beats Murray to reach Cincinnati final

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - World number one Roger Federer beat holder Andy Murray 6-2 7-6 on Saturday to reach the final of the Cincinnati Masters.

The Swiss broke serve twice in the first set and then saved two set points in the tiebreak to secure a final against former world number one Rafael Nadal or fourth seed Novak Djokovic who were playing later.

"It was just overall a very good performance," said Federer, who beat world number two Murray for only the third time in their nine meetings.

"I stayed aggressive. I was always looking to make the plays and I think in the end I deserved to win, just because I wasn't scared to go after my shots. And I think I served well."

Federer's serve was so good that Murray, one of the best returners in the game, failed to force a single break point.

Attacking from the start, Federer broke Murray's serve in the fourth and eighth games to take the first set.

The Briton battled hard to stay on terms in the second set and forced two set points, at 6-5 and 8-7.

But Federer saved the first with a big serve and the second when Murray's attempted backhand pass landed inches wide, before going on to win it 10-8.

In three of their most recent four meetings, Federer won the first set only to lose the match.

This time, the Swiss said, he felt he would have been confident of victory even had the match gone to a decider.

"(In some of the matches), I really felt like, this is going to get really hard in the third set. I kind of felt it coming that I was not going to win the match.

"Today was different. Even if I were to lose that second set, I would have been in the match with a good mindset. I played a really good match."

Murray was pleased with his fightback in the second set, but disappointed at his overall performance.

"In the first set, I was leaving the ball short and giving him a lot of second serves to look at and not making a whole a lot of returns, so therefore I was unable to put any pressure on him," he said.

"He was going for his shots because I was leaving the ball in the middle of the court. But I was happy I managed to up my game in the second set."

(Editing by Dave Thompson)