Sixth seed Robin Soderling delivered a tennis master class in the opening set before eliminating fourth seed Andy Murray 6-1 7-6 in the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells ATP tournament on Friday.
After saving four break points in the first game, the Swede overwhelmed Murray with a dazzling array of deep top-spin forehands, flat backhands and power serving to race through the first set in just 36 minutes.
Although Soderling wobbled when serving for the match at 5-4 and 30-0 up to be broken for the only time, he recovered to clinch the tiebreak 7-4 when Murray netted a backhand.
The Swede punched his right fist into the air in delight and will next face seventh seed Andy Roddick, who powered his way past Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3 7-5 earlier in the day to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fourth time.
"It's a big win because Andy is definitely one of the best players in the world," Soderling told reporters after reaching his first semi-final in an elite ATP Masters 1000 event.
"I was pretty sure before the match that it is almost impossible to outpower Andy because he moves really well and he puts everything back.
"I really felt it in the first game, which was a crucial hold for me. After that, I started to play not as aggressive and I was waiting a little bit for my opportunities, and it worked pretty well."
Murray, beaten in last year's final by Spaniard Rafa Nadal, was subdued after the match.
"He played very well to start with and I didn't," said the Scot. "I didn't move particularly well. I was hitting the ball really short and he's obviously got a big game and he was able to dictate all of the points.
"So from my side it was poor but he hit the ball really big from the back of the court and served well when he needed to. I made some mistakes in the tiebreak, and that's why I lost."
The big-serving Roddick broke the 18th-seeded Robredo in the 11th game of the second set before holding serve to seal victory in 78 minutes.
"I feel like I'm playing really well on my own serve," Roddick said after booking his place in the last four when the Spaniard hit a forehand long.
Nadal and Croatian Ivan Ljubicic reached the semi-finals from the other half of the draw on Thursday.
Wozniacki, Jankovic ease into final
Caroline Wozniacki breezed into the final of the Indian Wells WTA tournament with a commanding 6-2 6-3 victory over her good friend Agnieszka Radwanska.
The Danish second seed sealed victory in one hour 38 minutes when her Polish opponent, seeded fifth, hit a forehand wide to be broken for a fifth time.
Wozniacki, who is projected to climb to a career-high second when the world rankings are released tomorrow, trailed 15-40 on Radwanska's serve in the final game before winning the last four points.
The 19-year-old Wozniacki will take on Jelena Jankovic in today's final, the sixth-seeded Serb having cruised past Australian Samantha Stosur 6-2 6-4 earlier in the day.
Jankovic broke her opponent twice in each set to wrap up her win in one hour 28 minutes on a hot afternoon at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.