World No. 1 Roger Federer snapped a four-match losing streak against second-ranked Andy Murray Saturday to book his berth in the Cincinnati Masters final. Federer downed Murray 6-2, 7-6 (10-8), his first victory against the Scot since his triumph in last year's US Open final. Since then, Murray had bested the Swiss superstar four times, including twice this year. This time around, Federer gave Murray little room to maneuver, never facing a break point in a match lasting an hour and a half. “I was happy that I managed to up my game in the second set,” said Murray, who had two chances in the tiebreaker to force a third set. He couldn't however, and Federer claimed the victory when Murray double-faulted on Federer's second match point. Murray had given Federer his first chance to close it out when he challenged rather than playing a Federer serve - and was wrong. Murray, who sank to his knees right after issuing the challenge, said he knew he had blown the call. Federer had clinched the opening set with a successful challenge, after giving himself his third set point against Murray's serve with a textbook overhead smash. The Swiss awaits the winner of the second semifinal between second-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal and fourth-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic. On Friday Nadal saw off big-hitting Czech Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-5 while Djokovic beat Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-4, 7-5. Dementieva beats Serena Elena Dementieva reached the Rogers Cup final with a 7-6 (2), 6-1 win over Serena Williams Saturday. The fourth-seeded Dementieva will face Maria Sharapova or Alisa Kleybanova Sunday. Serena, the Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, produced a wonky serve and a litany of unforced errors in front of a packed stadium court at the Rexall Center. The 2001 champ was broken five times and looked out of rhythm, hitting routine shots long, wide or into the net. With the win, Dementieva avenged her loss to Serena in the semifinals at Wimbledon, a three-set classic that took nearly three hours. She has beaten Serena in four of their last five hardcourt meetings, a positive sign for Dementieva with the US Open starting in just over a week. Serena had been broken just once in her first three matches - and it was the only break point opportunity she had allowed all tournament. But she struggled from the outset against Dementieva, giving up a break in the third game of the match. The players traded more breaks – six in total - before Dementieva prevailed in the tiebreaker, opening up a 4-1 lead and eventually capturing the set when Serena hit a forehand long. It was the first set Serena had lost all tournament. On Friday Kleybanova beat Serb Jelena Jankovic 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, while Sharapova won 6-2, 7-6 over Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
