Shanghai Masters: Rafael Nadal to play Roger Federer in the final

The Croatian's serve came under fire immediately as the Spaniard started his onslaught with his strong forehand. Although the fourth seed tried to up his service game, he eventually conceded the critical break with the set on the line and squandered a trio of set points at five-all and Nadal capitalised in the very next game, seizing the initial break and closing out the first set after 67 minutes.

In the second set, the pair exchanged breaks midway, but it was Nadal who came in clutch eventually. The top seed struck the shot of the match at 4-4 deuce - a running forehand winner off a Cilic sky hook backhand. Although the Wimbledon finalist did well to stage a fightback, crushing a forehand winner down the line to draw level at 5-5, Nadal fired a service winner to close it out after two hours and 12 minutes.

The 36-year-old did not face a break point in the final two sets and broke twice in the decider to advance in one hour and 58 minutes to set up the great rivals' fourth meeting of the season, in which Federer will try to win his fifth match in a row against Nadal. This season alone, the Swiss maestro beat the Spaniard in the final at the Australian Open and the Miami Open, while also defeating him in the Round of 16 at BNP Paribas Open.