Murray happy to be tested in Paris

The Scot reached his first ever Paris Masters final with a 6-4, 6-3 win over David Ferrer on Saturday, and will play Novak Djokovic for the title.

An early service break proved decisive in the first set and Djokovic seemed poised to put his foot down in the second set as he went up 2-0.

World number one Djokovic and second seed Murray have a long-standing rivalry.

In Sunday’s final the second seed will take on either top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic or French Open victor Stan Wawrinka.

Djokovic easily won the first set and broke serve in the opening game of the second, but from 0-2 down Wawrinka lifted his game to dizzying heights to reel off five straight games and frustrate the Serb into breaking one of his racquets.

With both the ATP World Tour and Davis Cup finals looming, Andy Murray got the test he needed in a 7-6(7) 3-6 6-3 quarter-final win against local favorite Richard Gasquet at the Paris Masters on Friday.

Ferrer, who won the 2012 tournament in Paris, looked set for a straight sets canter against John Isner as he led 6-3, 5-3, 40-15. Ferrer got the break back midway through the first set as a few mistakes started to creep into the Scot’s game.

Spaniard Nadal, seeded the seventh at the 3,288,530-euro ($3.5 million) indoors tennis tournament, lost to the Swiss the last time the two men met in Paris in the French Open final in June, reports Xinhua.

The win brought Djokovic’s final regular season win-loss record to a stunning 78-5 and takes his unbeaten run, stretching back to Aug 23, to 22.

The third seeded Federer, who claimed his sixth title of the year and 88th of his career in Basel last weekend, hammered down 27 aces from his two-meter-tall opponent but had to pack home without once having dropped his serve. “I don’t know what speed the court’s going to be”.

“So for the sport I don’t think it’s negative when someone has such an exceptional year but obviously it’s up for the guys that are around him to raise their level as well and try to beat him on a consistent basis and try to understand how best to do that”.

Ferrer broke for a 3-1 lead in the second set.

“I feel like I have been striking the ball well this week”, said Murray.

He was nevertheless generous in praising Isner, who saved a break point in the fifth game of the third set with a clean backhand volley.