Doha, Jan 7: The year's first clash between World No. 1 Andy Murray and second-ranked Novak Djokovic will take place in the final of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open tennis tournament.

The top two seeds in the tournament at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex advanced after winning their respective semi-finals on Friday, reports Efe.

While Murray cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over third-seed Tomas Berdych, Djokovic had to battle back to defeat Spain's Fernando Verdasco.

The Serb saved five match points to best Verdasco 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-3 in a contest that lasted two hours and 23 minutes.

Djokovic has won 10 of his 18 finals against Murray, but the Scotsman came out ahead the last time the two men met, at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November.

That victory vaulted Murray into the No.1 spot in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings.

IANS