Federer routs Soderling to enter Shanghai semis

Swiss maestro Roger Federer sliced through fifth seed Robin Soderling for a 6-1, 6-1 victory to reach the Shanghai Masters semi-finals on Friday.

Third seed Federer broke serve three times to wrap up the first set in 29 blistering minutes as the woeful Soderling played little more than a meek cameo role.

The second set was four minutes shorter as quick-firing Federer smashed four aces to call time in 54 blurred minutes.

Federer now faces a last four showdown with Serb Novak Djokovic, who trounced unseeded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-3.

Britain's Andy Murray brushed aside burly Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 6-2 as he confirmed his return to form after a recent illness.

Murray took command early in the first set and was hardly troubled in the second as he advanced to last four.

"He struggled a little bit on his serve and wasn't serving as big as usual, so I managed to get into a lot of the return games," said Murray.

"I served well and didn't give him any chances on my serve. I was hitting the ball really cleanly from the back of the court, so it was a good start," he added.

The error-prone Tsonga was no match for the 23-year-old world number four, whose stinging backhand returns forced the 12th seed into submission.

Murray will meet Juan Monaco in the last four after the Argentine battled to a 6-7, 7-5, 6-2 win over Austria's Juergen Melzer, the 13th seed who knocked out world number one Rafa Nadal on Thursaday.

"I know Andy's a very good player. He fights a lot and it will be tough for me. I think today was playing very well, but if I want to beat Andy, I have to play a little bit better tomorrow," said the unseeded Monaco, ranked 41 in the world.