Murray to meet Djokovic in Rogers Cup final
Swiss teenager Bencic upsets top-seed Serena in women’s event to reach final.
Second-seed Andy Murray breezed to a 6-3 6-0 semi-final victory over Kei Nishikori to set up a final with Novak Djokovic at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.
Top-seed Djokovic defeated unseeded Jeremy Chardy of France 6-4 6-4 in the earlier semi-final.
A three-time champion on the Canadian hardcourts, Djokovic has a 19-8 career record against Murray and has won their last eight meetings since the Scot beat Djokovic in the 2013 Wimbledon final. Murray has claimed two Canadian titles.
Djokovic, who received treatment on a sore right elbow several times during changeovers, showed no signs of distress on the court as he dismissed Chardy in a tidy one hour, 20 minutes to run his record to 10-0 against the Frenchman.
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The top-seed shrugged off what he said was a whiff of cannabis in a tightly packed stadium. Djokovic was irked as the aroma of cannabis entered the match court.
“Someone is smoking weed. I can smell it. I’m getting dizzy,” he complained to the chair umpire.
With no action taken, he re-doubled his efforts to carry on to a victory in 80 minutes over an out-matched French opponent.
“Whoever it is, he’s pretty high and I hope he doesn’t come back tomorrow. Because it’s a pretty bad smell. I didn’t enjoy it much.”
In the late semi-final, Nishikori appeared to be fatigued in the second set as Murray won 12 of the final 13 points.
“I think I’m more tired,” the Japanese fourth seed said.
“Everything was sore these couple of days. Today it got a little bit worst so I couldn’t really move 100 per cent.”
Elsewhere, world number one Serena Williams was dumped out of the Rogers Cup 3-6 7-5 6-4 by rising Swiss talent Belinda Bencic, who will meet Simona Halep in Sunday’s final after the Romanian second seed beat Sara Errani in straight sets.
![Bencic beat Wozniacki and Ivanovic prior to the Serena shock [EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/792495c859df4cb69cfd6133f0740840_18.jpeg)
Saturday’s defeat was just the second in 45 matches this season for Williams, who has won the first three grand slams of the year and will be favourite for a fourth when the US Open kicks off at the end of the month.
The unseeded Bencic, who also beat former world number ones Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic in Toronto, wore a look of disbelief after the 18-year-old’s forehand winner whizzed past Williams to seal the match.
Bencic dropped her racket and covered her face with her hands before the tears started to flow.
Halep, playing her first event since a shock first round exit at Wimbledon, was happy to escape with a straight sets win in one hour, 35 minutes.