Andy Murray overpowered Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-0 Saturday, setting up a Shanghai Masters final against David Ferrer and taking another step in his bid to pass Roger Federer in the rankings.
Ferrer, ranked No. 5, struggled past fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3. It was the third straight match he has come back to win after losing the first set.
Murray, the defending champion, has won 24 of his last 25 matches and is trying to capture his third tournament in three weeks. If he wins the title Sunday, he will advance from No. 4 to No. 3 and overtake Federer in the rankings, a goal he had set for the end of the year.
Federer made last year's Shanghai final but skipped this year's tournament to rest and recover from injuries. He hasn't been ranked below No. 3 since June 2003 -- just before he won his first Grand Slam at Wimbledon.
Murray has been ranked as high as No. 2 but has never finished the year higher than No. 4.
"It's not the ultimate goal, but it's a step in the right direction," he said.
Nishikori won just one point on the Scotsman's serve in the first set and six in the entire match, which lasted less than an hour.
The 21-year-old player has had the best week of his career, defeating two Top 20 players -- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France and Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine. His ranking will improve to about No. 32 next week, the highest ever for a Japanese player on the ATP tour.
"I didn't have any chance to break him. He had a good return. I mean, good everything," Nishikori said. "He was really, like, genius to play."
Murray has barely been tested this week. He received a bye in the first round, a walkover in the second and easily beat a 124th-ranked qualifier in the quarterfinals. The Scot dropped one set to the only seeded player he's faced, No. 13 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.- by http://espn.go.com
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