MASON, Ohio — First Rafael Nadal. Now Andy Murray.

Roger Federer had lost five consecutive matches to Nadal before a straight-set win in the finals at Madrid in May, and on Saturday, the world’s No. 1 player snapped a four-match losing streak against the second-ranked Murray to reach the finals of the Cincinnati Masters.

Federer won, 6-2, 7-6 (8), and will face fourth-ranked Novak Djokovic in today’s final (12: 30 p. m., Ch. 4). Djokovic earned his second consecutive appearance in the final and snapped his own five-match losing streak against No. 3 Rafael Nadal with a 6-1, 6-4 win in the other semifinal.

The top-seeded Federer, who won the tournament in 2005 and 2007, put more emphasis on reaching the finals than on snapping his personal losing streak against Murray, the defending champion.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” said Federer, the winner of a record 15 Grand Slams, including the last two at the French Open and Wimbledon. “I’m past that point. People try to hype it up, but I don’t read anything into it.”

Federer never faced deuce while serving, keeping Murray on his heels in the first match between the tour’s top two players in the history of the $3 million Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.