Gilles Simon eased to a 6-1 6-4 Masters Cup victory over Radek Stepanek, and then celebrated securing a place in the semi-finals.
Frenchman faces Djokovic for place in the final after Murray magic
Gilles Simon eased to a 6-1 6-4 Masters Cup victory over Radek Stepanek, and then celebrated securing a place in the semi-finals.
Before the day's play, Simon knew that no matter the result of his match against Stepanek, he needed Andy Murray to defeat Roger Federer to qualify from the Red Group.
And the Scotsman's remarkable 6-4 6-7 7-5 victory over the world number two ensured the Frenchman will face Novak Djokovic for a place in the Masters Cup final.
Murray will play Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the other semi-final to be played on Saturday, live on
Sky Sports 3.
A second consecutive defeat for Stepanek, who was a last-minute replacement for the injured Andy Roddick, sees the Czech ninth-seed finish bottom of the Red Group after a winless trip to Shanghai.
Style
Simon, who is enjoying an inspired 2008 after winning Masters titles in Casablanca, Indianapolis and Bucharest, marched through the first set of his final Group match with minimum fuss.
After breaking Stepanek's opening service game, Simon turned on the style with a string of brutal groundstrokes to open up a 4-1 lead.
The world number nine broke his Czech opponent again in the sixth game and wrapped up the opening set by holding his serve the following game.
And, after breaking Stepanek's opening service game of the second set, it was a matter of when, rather than if, Simon would wrap up his second win of the tournament.
To the world number 27's credit, he did make Simon work for his victory by holding serve at 5-3 down, however the unfazed Frenchman held with ease to seal the win.
