Novak Djokovic stormed into the final of the Shanghai Masters with an emphatic straight-sets victory over Andy Murray in their last-four encounter on Saturday. 

The world number one produced a brutal demonstration of the gap between himself and the rest of men's tennis with a routine 6-1 6-3 defeat of the world number two to reach his 13th consecutive final.

Djokovic had Murray under pressure from the start, with the Briton forced to save two break points in the opening game with a pair of strong serves.

But, after Djokovic comfortably held to level at 1-1, the Serbian surged to 40-0 on the Murray serve before a double-fault handed him a 2-1 lead. 

A first set that saw Murray commit 17 unforced errors was quickly wrapped up as Djokovic rattled off the next four games, only to then drop his serve in the first game of the second as Murray threatened a fightback.

However, any hope of a Murray revival was short-lived. The two-time grand slam champion failed to consolidate his break as Djokovic struck back in unbelievable fashion, ending a stunning rally in which he produced an outstanding show of defence with a superb backhand volley to level at 1-1.

Murray, who got just 46 per cent of his first serves in, produced another double-fault to give Djokovic a second break and a 3-1 lead.

And from there Murray could not find a way back, Djokovic wrapping up victory with a searing backhand down the line and setting up a final with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who stunned Rafael Nadal to claim his place in the showpiece.

Tsonga prevailed in a pulsating match to beat Nadal, the Frenchman coming through 6-4 0-6 7-5.

World number 15 Tsonga needed only one break to claim the first set despite coming under pressure from the 14-time grand slam champion. Tsonga saved two break points in the eighth game of the first but could not prevent Nadal from breaking quickly in the second set following an excellent cross-court smash.

Nadal seemed set to cruise to victory as he easily sent the match to a decider, helped by 21 unforced errors in the second by Tsonga. 

Yet Tsonga was more resolute in the decider and, after spurning three break points at 1-1, capitalised on a poor service game from Nadal to take a 6-5 lead as the Spaniard sent a shot into the net.

He then set up match point with an incredible diving volley at 30-30 and closed out a thrilling contest to keep alive his hopes of a second tournament success in less than a month.