Andy Murray’s controversial tweeting of last month may not have helped his image among many people but it seems to have done little to harm his tennis. Since sending out his support for a Yes vote in the Scottish referendum in the early hours of September 18 the British number one has won seven straight matches, a run that continued this morning with his best victory since Wimbledon in the summer of 2013. After winning the ATP title in Shenzen on Sunday Murray was extremely sharp in defeating US Open champion and world number five Marin Cilic 6-1 6-4 to make the semi-finals of the China Open, in which he will take on the world’s best player Novak Djokovic. VIDEO Scroll down for archive footage of Murray and Djokovic practicing together . Andy Murray breezed through 6-4 6-1 against Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals . He will now face long-time adversary Novak Djokovic in the final four in Beijing . Murray's victory moved him into ninth place in the Race to London ahead of David Ferrer but he still faces a battle to overhaul Milos Raonic and Tomas Berdych. And his cause to make it into the top eight performers of the season was significantly aided by Djokovic defeating Grigor Dimitrov, who is one of his main rivals for one of the three remaining places. The 27 year-old Scot may fancy his chances as the signs become more evident that his climb back towards his best level is gaining real traction. It took him 98 minutes to beat a player against whom he has a good record, but who has received a massive boost with his unexpected triumph at Flushing Meadows. It was business as usual between the pair with Murray’s supreme athleticism forcing Cilic to cut his margin of error and consequently make more mistakes than normal. US Open champion Cilic had no answer to Murray's quality throughout the contest . Djokovic had made light work of beating Grigor Dimitrov earlier in the day . He also punished the Croatian’s serve and broke him three times in the first set and once in the second to win the match, after eventually being made to fight much harder in what was a feisty encounter in which Murray was lucky to escape censure for his four-letter outbursts. There was, after all, plenty at stake for him as he seeks the big wins that have been missing since undergoing back surgery. His previous best statistical victory had been against then world number ten Jo Wilfried Tsonga at the US Open, but there is no substitute for the belief beating a top five player gives you. While there is long way to go, every win boosts Murray’s chances of making the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in November, open to the world’s top eight performers of the season.
Murray beats Cilic 6-1 6-4 in quarter-finals of the China Open .
He will now face World No 1 Djokovic in the last four on Saturday .
Djokovic had earlier beaten Grigor Dimitrov 6-2 6-4 .
The victory puts Murray in ninth place in the Race to London .
Andy Murray’s controversial tweeting of last month may not have helped his image among many people but it seems to have done little to harm his tennis. Since sending out his support for a Yes vote in the Scottish referendum in the early hours of September 18 the British number one has won seven straight matches, a run that continued this morning with his best victory since Wimbledon in the summer of 2013. After winning the ATP title in Shenzen on Sunday Murray was extremely sharp in defeating US Open champion and world number five Marin Cilic 6-1 6-4 to make the semi-finals of the China Open, in which he will take on the world’s best player Novak Djokovic. VIDEO Scroll down for archive footage of Murray and Djokovic practicing together . Andy Murray breezed through 6-4 6-1 against Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals . He will now face long-time adversary Novak Djokovic in the final four in Beijing . Murray's victory moved him into ninth place in the Race to London ahead of David Ferrer but he still faces a battle to overhaul Milos Raonic and Tomas Berdych. And his cause to make it into the top eight performers of the season was significantly aided by Djokovic defeating Grigor Dimitrov, who is one of his main rivals for one of the three remaining places. The 27 year-old Scot may fancy his chances as the signs become more evident that his climb back towards his best level is gaining real traction. It took him 98 minutes to beat a player against whom he has a good record, but who has received a massive boost with his unexpected triumph at Flushing Meadows. It was business as usual between the pair with Murray’s supreme athleticism forcing Cilic to cut his margin of error and consequently make more mistakes than normal. US Open champion Cilic had no answer to Murray's quality throughout the contest . Djokovic had made light work of beating Grigor Dimitrov earlier in the day . He also punished the Croatian’s serve and broke him three times in the first set and once in the second to win the match, after eventually being made to fight much harder in what was a feisty encounter in which Murray was lucky to escape censure for his four-letter outbursts. There was, after all, plenty at stake for him as he seeks the big wins that have been missing since undergoing back surgery. His previous best statistical victory had been against then world number ten Jo Wilfried Tsonga at the US Open, but there is no substitute for the belief beating a top five player gives you. While there is long way to go, every win boosts Murray’s chances of making the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in November, open to the world’s top eight performers of the season.
world number five Marin Cilic 6-1 6-4 to make the semi-finals of the China Open, in which he will the quarter-finals . He will now face long-time adversary Novak Djokovic in the final four in place in the Race to London ahead of David Ferrer work of beating Grigor Dimitrov earlier in the