Novak Djokovic stayed on course to end the best season of his life with a fourth straight ATP World Tour Finals crown.
The world number one outclassed Rafael Nadal to win a surprisingly brief semi-final 6-3 6-3.
He did not face a single break point and will play either Roger Federer or Stan Wawrinka in the final on Sunday.
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Djokovic said: “It was a great performance from the very beginning. I was trying to be aggressive and dictate the play, and I managed to pull out my best game when it was needed the most.”
Djokovic and Nadal were meeting for a 46th time, with many of their previous encounters being gruelling epics full of brutal rallies, but here the Serbian was just too good.
He is now level with Nadal at 23 wins apiece, the first time Nadal has not led a rivalry that dates back to the French Open in 2006.
Given Djokovic had won seven of their last eight matches and not dropped a set in three previous meetings with Nadal this year, it was perhaps unwise to expect anything less.
But, for once in a year where he has been utterly dominant, Djokovic wobbled a little in his final two group matches at the O2 Arena.
.@DjokerNole beats @RafaelNadal to move to within 1 win of 5th #FinalShowdown crown. https://t.co/IYb04K0Meu #atp pic.twitter.com/EhIJ8aKSTE
— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) November 21, 2015
First he lost an indoor match for the first time in three years against Federer and was then below his best again in a tight win over Tomas Berdych.
Nadal, meanwhile, had rediscovered some form of old after a challenging year, winning all three of his group matches against Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray and David Ferrer.
But from the moment Djokovic fired four clean winners to break to love in the second game of the match, the tone was set.
After three games Djokovic had blasted eight winners and made not a single unforced error.
The Spaniard had been aggressive in his play in the first three matches, finding depth and penetration with his groundstrokes, but they had little effect on Djokovic.
Nadal at least avoided being broken in the opening game of the second set but the pressure was relentless and it was no surprise when Djokovic moved ahead 3-2.
Serving to stay in the match Nadal could resist no longer and Djokovic clinched victory after an hour and 19 minutes, nailing a backhand winner down the line to bring up match point and then finding the opposite corner.
