Novak Djokovic defeats Andy Murray in ATP Masters quarter-final in Paris

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray in straight sets to book his place in the semi-finals of the BNP Paris Masters on Friday.

The Serb edged into the lead after claiming a hard fought first set before easing to victory in the second with three breaks of the Murray serve.

Djokovic triumphed 7-5 6-2 in a match time of one hour and 41 minutes to line up a last four meeting with David Ferrer or Kei Nishikori.

The first set progressed on serve, although Murray survived a scare in the eighth game after a successful review when Djokovic had appeared to have claimed the first break of the match, only for the ball to be shown to be out.

The game returned to 40-40 and Murray went on to hold but the Serb went on to claim the first set after eventually breaking his opponent in the 12th game in a time of one hour and four minutes.

Murray broke Djokovic early in the second set to take a 2-1 lead but the world number one hit back immediately with a break of his own to level it at 2-2.

Djokovic then held serve and forced another break before taking a 5-2 lead - meaning he had won four successive games – with Murray left hanging into the match.

However, the Serb quickly put the world number eight out of his misery with his third consecutive break of serve, Murray crashing the ball into the net from a forehand to exit the tournament at the quarter-final stage.

His work was part-done already, though, having qualified for the end-of-season Tour finals in London on Thursday.