Andy Murray and Roger Federer will meet in one of the semifinals from the 2012 Shanghai Masters on Friday. At stake in the match is a spot in the tournament's final and a chance at a Masters Series 1000 title. The other semifinal will feature Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych with the Serb carrying a 9-1 head-to-head mark into the match.

Murray enters his semifinal against Federer with a very marginal lead in head-to-heads at 9-8. Commenting on the upcoming match Federer acknowledged that it could prove to be important in the rankings (quoted in an ATPWorldTour.com article).

"It's always great playing the best players" Federer said. "Those are the kind of matches you want to try to win because that can obviously then move the rankings by a little bit, even though it doesn't matter so much if you stay within the Top 4. It's going to be a tough match, [a] good one. From my side, I haven't decided yet how I'm going to play."

Federer is into the semifinal following a win over Marin Cilic, a player who has never bothered the Swiss Maestro in any of their encounters. The current World No. 1 did have a scare in the round of sixteen however as Stanislas Wawrinka took Federer to a second set tiebreaker with a one set lead. Murray has had a fairly easy road to the semifinals in Shanghai as he enjoyed a bye in round one and a walkover in round two. Alexandr Dolgopolov provided minimal resistance in a straight sets in the third round while Radek Stepanek took a set off of the World No. 3 before fizzling out.

Murray and Federer have not faced one another since the London Olympics when Murray seemingly got over the hump in front of a partisan British crowd. In what was a very lopsided straight sets victory over the World No. 1, Murray claimed a gold medal and then went on to win the 2012 US Open in September. Federer and Murray met in Shanghai in the 2010 final and Murray had a lot more on that day as he won 6-3, 6-2. The betting odds generally make the Scot a mild underdog (Pinnacle 7/6) however you have to think that Murray, the two-time defending champion at Shanghai and a player who has never lost there, should be considered the proper favorite (not before 8pm).

Recommendation: Murray straight up.