Andy Murray handed top-seed Rafael Nadal only his sixth loss of the season on Saturday as the Scot stormed into a second consecutive final at the Toronto Masters 6-3, 6-4.
Victory gives Murray the chance to repeat as champion in Canada. The last to do it was Andre Agassi in 1994-1995.
Murray will test himself on Sunday when he plays the winner from Federer and world number two Novak Djokovic, only man remaining who has not dropped a set all week.
Murray’s win was his 29th of the season against 11 losses while Nadal was defeated a day after winning his 50th match of the season.
The semifinal featured the world number four players in the field, with Nadal leading the way. It last happened in Canada in 1987.
Murray now stands 4-8 against Nadal after beating the Spaniard in an Australian Open quarterfinal and losing to him in the Wimbledon semis. The Scot won the last of his six 2009 titles last November in Valencia.
Murray fired nine aces to Nadal’s two and broke three times.
The world number four Scot won 14 of the last 19 points of the opening set and took the second set lead in the third game with a break. He lost that edge for 3-3 but got the margin back with another break of the Spaniard for 5-4 before serving out the victory.
