Top-ranked Novak Djokovic reached his fifth China Open final and improved his spotless record at the tournament to 23-0 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Andy Murray on Saturday.
It was Djokovic's third win over Murray this year and came just weeks after the Serb knocked him out of the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in a hard-fought, 3½-hour match.
Saturday's semifinal didn't quite reach the same level of quality - the two combined for 43 unforced errors and only 26 winners - but Djokovic proved the steadier player at the key moments and converted three of six break points.
"It was a two-set victory today, but still it felt like I had to work hard to win the points," he said.
Overall, Djokovic is on a 24-match winning streak in China, having also won the Shanghai Masters in 2012 and 2013. He has not lost in China since being beaten by Roger Federer in the semifinals in Shanghai in 2010.
He'll play the winner of the other semifinal between third-seeded Tomas Berdych and qualifier Martin Klizan, who upset Rafael Nadal on Friday.
Djokovic said he feels he's playing consistent tennis again after an up-and-down summer that saw him win his seventh Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and marry his long-time girlfriend, Jelena Ristic, then lose early at Cincinnati and Toronto.
"I just wasn't myself on the court. I wasn't really prepared emotionally to go back and compete again after Wimbledon and a very exhausting summer, everything that happened in my professional and private life," he said. "I'm glad that I'm back in the form that I would like to be in, especially in these courts where I still haven't lost ever since I played this tournament."
Despite the loss, Murray was also pleased with how he's been playing in Asia this month. The 11th-ranked Scot accepted wild cards to play in Shenzhen and Beijing to try to improve his ranking and qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
He won the title in Shenzhen last week and reached the semifinals in Beijing, playing eight matches in 10 days.
"It's been a couple good weeks for me," he said. "I got a lot of matches, some momentum. Obviously, I would have liked to have done a little bit better here. But I lost to the No. 1 player in the world. There's no disgrace in that."
Murray had his chances in the second set. Djokovic appeared headed for a quick victory after winning the first set and capturing 10 straight points to open a 2-0 lead in the second, but Murray took advantage of an error-strewn sixth game by the Serb to break back for 3-all.
Murray faltered three games later, though, making two backhand errors to give Djokovic another break and allow him to serve for the match.
"I managed to get myself back into the match," he said. "Just wasn't enough."
The women's semifinals featured four past Grand Slam champions.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova tried to reach her second final in as many weeks against 2011 U.S. Open winner Samantha Stosur, while 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic played five-time major winner Maria Sharapova.