Andy Murray took a significant step in his quest to overthrow Novak Djokovic as year-end World No. 1, after reaching his 20th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. Murray downed Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the championship, striking 22 winners.

Victory in Sunday’s final would move him to within striking distance of the top spot in the Emirates ATP Race To London after Djokovic suffered a semi-final defeat to Roberto Bautista Agut earlier on Saturday. The battle for year-end No. 1, a mantle held by the Serbian four of the past five years, is approaching a critical stage with the Scot moving to 1,315 points behind his longtime rival. A title in Shanghai would see Murray close the gap to less than 1,000, with three tournaments remaining on his 2016 schedule. The season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals could play a pivotal role.

It was a cagey affair under the lights on Stadium court on Saturday, with Simon constantly pestering Murray’s serve. The Frenchman broke three times in the first set, including once when Murray served for the opener at 5-3. But the second seed would not be deterred, converting his first set point a game later in the most dramatic fashion. Simon lofted a perfectly placed lob just inside the baseline, which Murray tracked down, set his feet and countered with a sublime backhand lob of own. Simon had no answer, as Murray took a 6-4 lead after 53 minutes, despite striking 18 unforced errors.

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The second set was more routine for the Scot, who would convert the decisive break for 2-0 after a marathon 13-minute second game. Murray would be broken serving for the match at 5-1, but found the finish line two games later, converting his first match point after one hour and 43 minutes.

“It was a tough match today,” said Murray. “Probably the hardest one I had this week. Because of the conditions, it felt unbelievably humid on the court. I don’t know if that’s because the stadium was more full and therefore it was warmer.

“It was tough. There were lots of long rallies and a lot of ups and downs. He went up a break in the first set and came back at the end of both sets. It was hard. A lot of long games and I was behind on a few of my service games, too. It was a good one to get through in two sets.” 

Murray previously lifted the trophy in Shanghai in 2010 (d. Federer) and 2011 (d. Ferrer). He extended his FedEx ATP Head2Head lead over Simon to 15-2, having also prevailed in straight sets at the Mutua    Madrid Open earlier this year. The World No. 2, who leads the ATP World Tour this year with 64 match wins, has won 20 consecutive matches against Frenchmen.

Murray will face Bautista Agut for the trophy on Sunday. The Spaniard will be seeking to overturn an 0-2 mark against the Scot, having dropped all five sets played. Murray previously claimed victory at Wimbledon in 2014 and last year in the Munich semi-finals.

Simon was bidding to reach his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final and first since falling to Roger Federer in the Shanghai title match in 2014. He caps a strong week, having upset World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka on Thursday for his first Top 5 victory in nearly two years.

Henri Kontinen and John Peers will play for their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 team title after advancing to the Shanghai Rolex Masters final in straight sets on Saturday.

The Finnish/Australian duo claimed 81 per cent of their first-serve points and saved four of five break points to dismiss Croatians Marin Cilic and Mate Pavic 6-3, 6-4 in 69 minutes. Kontinen/Peers will play for their fourth title of the season on Sunday in Shanghai.

The team has gone undefeated in finals this season, hoisting trophies in Brisbane, Munich and Hamburg so far this year. They will face an American pairing in the final, either John Isner and Jack Sock or second seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.

Saturday’s first doubles semi-final looked as if it were headed to a second-set tie-break. The powerful Cilic was serving at 4-all in the second set. But Kontinen/Peers earned a 0/40 lead on his serve and broke at 30/40 when Peers slapped a return to Cilic’s feet that the 6’6″ Cilic couldn’t handle.

Kontinen/Peers also bolstered their place in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London with the win. The team remains in seventh place, but they add 240 points to their total, giving them 3,310 points, 245 ahead of eighth-placed Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi.

Kontinen/Peers have never qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held 13-20 Nov. at The O2 in London. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season will qualify for the prestigious season finale. Peers qualified last year alongside Jamie Murray, but Kontinen is looking to make his London debut.

The semi-finals at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Saturday feature the top two players in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, along with No. 15 seed Roberto Bautista Agut and 2014 finalist Gilles Simon. Djokovic and Murray, who have combined to win five of the previous seven Shanghai titles, are on course to meet for the 35th time (third in Shanghai) and fifth this season (first since Roland Garros). But first, they have business at hand in the semi-finals.

In the first singles match on Stadium Court, Djokovic brings a 5-0 career record (3-0 on hard) against Bautista Agut. They last met this year in the fourth round at Roland Garros, with Djokovic rallying from a set down to win in four sets. Djokovic is appearing in his seventh semi-final in Shanghai in as many attempts. He has a 21-1 record in Shanghai since 2012, with his lone loss to Federer in the semi-finals two years ago. The World No. 1 is trying to reach his 10th final of the season (7-2), 44th in an ATP Masters 1000 event (30-13) and 95th final of his career (66-28). The 29-year-old Serbian leads the ATP World Tour with seven titles this year, including four coming at ATP Masters 1000 events. Bautista Agut is appearing in his second career ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, the first since Madrid in 2014 (l. to Nadal). He has risen to No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Race to London. The 28-year-old Spaniard is trying to reach his fourth ATP World Tour final of the season (2-1) and earn his first career victory over a World No. 1 (0-5). He is 5-30 in his career vs. Top 10 opponents (2-7 this year). His 47 match wins in 2016 is a personal-best.

In the evening session, Murray takes a 14-2 record in his Fedex ATPHead2Head (7-1 on hard) against Simon. Murray has won 19 consecutive matches against Frenchmen going back to Rotterdam in February 2015, where Simon beat the Brit in the quarter-finals. Simon won their first meeting on clay in the first-round at Rome in 2007. Since then, Murray has dominated the series 14-1. Murray, who has yet to lose serve in 25 games this week, comes in with an eight-match winning streak (16-0 in sets) after capturing his 40th career title in Beijing last Sunday. He is trying to reach his career-best 10th final of the season (5-4). He is also looking to advance to his 20th career ATP Masters 1000 final (12-7) and 62nd in his career (40-21). Simon, who reached the Shanghai final two years ago (l. to Federer), is appearing in his sixth career ATP Masters 1000 semi-final (2-3) and his first since reaching the final four here two years ago. He is also eyeing his first ATP World Tour final since Metz in September 2015 (l. to Tsonga). His last title came in Marseille in February 2015 (d. Monfils). His other ATP Masters 1000 final came at Madrid in 2008 (l. to Murray).

In doubles semi-final action, No. 2 seeds and 2014 champions Bob and Mike Bryan meet countrymen John Isner and Jack Sock for the first time. In the other unseeded semi-final, Henri Kontinen and John Peers meet the first-time Croatian duo of Marin Cilic and Mate Pavic. The Bryans are No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Race to London and already have qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. The Bryans are two wins away from becoming the first team in the Open Era with 1,000 match wins (998-308). Kontinen and Peers have improved to No. 7 in the team race and they are trying to earn their first trip to the season finale.

The $100,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Monterrey fittingly plays alongside an ATP Champions Tour event at the same venue this week, giving a glimpse into the future stars of the game that could one day join the ranks among the legends of the sport.

The Monterrey Open made its debut on the calendar last year and made an immediate impact on the players for its attention to detail, scenic surroundings and caring tournament staff. It was named this June as one of the 2015 Challenger Tournaments of the Year, standing alongside well-established and prestigious events including the Sparkassen OPEN in Braunschweig and the Ethias Trophy in Mons.

“It is an honour for us have been named one of the winners of the ATP Challenger of the Year awards for 2015, which we look forward to receiving in November at the Barclays ATP Tour World Finals in London,” said Tournament Director Hernan Garza. “This confirms the good direction we have taken with the Monterrey Open Challenger, and commits us to continue our efforts to provide the players and the public a high quality event.”

This year’s Monterrey Open features an intriguing mix of established veterans and rising stars of the game. Many of them competed in Monterrey last year and made it a point to return in 2016.

“I think it’s the best tournament out there,” said fifth seed and #NextGen star Ernesto Escobedo of the U.S., who advanced to the semi-finals on Thursday. “I love being in Mexico and come to play here any chance I can get.”

The tournament has also been well-received by the Champions Tour players competing this week, a high compliment coming from players who spent years traveling to the biggest events on the ATP World Tour.

“The venue is beautiful. It’s a great Challenger that I would recommend to anyone coming out to Monterrey,” said former World No. 8 Mark Philippoussis. “The players are well taken care of and the people here are incredibly hospitable. They make you feel like you’re at home.”

Former World No. 4 James Blake took in some of the Challenger matches in Monterrey and said he was impressed by the level of play. The American was confident that a player competing here this week could make plenty of noise on the ATP World Tour in 2017.

“A lot of the guys I played in Challengers were just a couple of opportunities or a few points away from being top players and you see that here as well,” said Blake. “Someone can be playing in a Challenger this week and then make the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in a couple of months. It’s very possible with the talent these guys have.”

Move over, squeegees: The ATP Challenger Tour event in Casablanca took a more extreme approach in drying Court Central on Friday by setting part of the court on fire.

The blaze took place during a delay in the semi-final match between sixth seed Arthur De Greef of Belgium and qualifier Maxime Janvier of France, with Janvier leading 6-4 4-2. But while lighting a court on fire to address standing water might be an uncommon practice, it isn’t unheard of.

“We had a long rain break and the side of the court was still holding a lot of water in the surface. To solve this, you pour gas on it and set it alight,” said ATP Challenger Tour supervisor Carl Baldwin. “This isn’t commonly done, but I have seen it before.”

Janvier returned to the court and found that his groundstrokes were still on fire, allowing him to hold onto the lead and move into his first ATP Challenger Tour final. The 19-year-old Frenchman will square off for the championship on Saturday against fellow teenager and World No. 1 junior Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who is also seeking his first Challenger title.