Andy Murray's quest to win the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells has ended after he was beaten in straight sets by Novak Djokovic.
Murray, who reached the last four of the tournament with a victory over Feliciano Lopez, got off to the worst possible start, losing his opening service game and even serving as slowly as 76 mph against the Serb in the early exchanges.
Djokovic, given a walkover into the semi-final after the injury withdrawal of Bernard Tomic, broke again and had looked untroubled on his own serve before the Scot managed to keep the set alive at 5-2.
However, the Australian Open champion quickly broke the Murray serve for a third time to take the opening set in under 40 minutes.
Djokovic continued to dominate early in the second set as he opened up a 3-0 lead over the fourth seed.
Murray at least began to hold his serve as he started to find some rhythm, but his opponent's ability to stay in the rally proved frustrating for the Briton as Djokovic saw out the second set 6-3 to progress.
The Serb will now face either Roger Federer or Milos Raonic in Sunday's final.
Chris O'Keefe
