Defending champion Novak Djokovic reached the final of the China Open on Saturday by beating John Isner of the United States 7-6 (1), 6-4.
On the women's side, new No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki beat Shahar Peer 7-5, 6-2 to reach the title match. The Dane will play Vera Zvonareva, who powered past Li Na 6-3, 6-3.
The top-seeded Djokovic pounded away from the baseline and executed sharply at the net to nail three of 12 breakpoints and drop serve only once against Isner.
Djokovic will meet eighth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain, who defeated Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
''I had a lot of opportunities throughout the whole match and used them when I needed to, so just happy to get through this one,'' said Djokovic, who also qualified for November's season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Djokovic beat Isner in their only previous encounter, in the Davis Cup in March. This time, it took the Serb more than 4 hours and six match points.
''I definitely knew that the key to today's match was to return well and, yet again, to get him into the longer rallies because that's where my chances were,'' Djokovic said.
The U.S. Open runner-up already is looking ahead to playing Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in next week's Shanghai Masters.
''I feel fresh and confident and just (want to) keep on going,'' Djokovic said.
Wozniacki doesn't feel quite as good.
The 20-year-old Wozniacki hurt her knee in her quarterfinal win against Ana Ivanovic on Friday.
''It felt better today than yesterday,'' Wozniacki said. ''It's not getting worse, so that's a positive.''
She converted six of 11 breakpoints to improve to 4-1 against the 18th-ranked Peer, who broke serve three times.
''I feel good out there on court and hopefully tomorrow I can play a good match against Vera,'' Wozniacki said. ''She's in really good shape, so it's not going to be easy. I'm just thinking about trying to be 100 percent fit for tomorrow.''
