Bidding for his first ATP title of the year, Murray recovered from a poor second set to wrap up victory in one hour 38 minutes on the showcourt at the LA Tennis Center.
The Scot, playing his first tournament since Wimbledon, will take on holder and second-seeded Sam Querrey in Sunday's final, the big-serving American having battled past Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. It will be the first time since 1999, when Pete Sampras beat fellow American Andre Agassi, that the top two seeds will contest the final.
Sharapova in final
Maria Sharapova overcame a fast-starting Agnieszka Radwanska 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the final of the Stanford Classic on Saturday. Bidding for her first WTA Premier title of the year, Sharapova needed five match points to subdue third seed Radwanska, who engaged the hard-hitting Russian in one long rally after another.
Sharapova will face Belarussian Victoria Azarenka in the final, who celebrated her 21st birthday in style earlier by overwhelming top seed Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-3.
Coming into the tournament, the fifth seeded Sharapova had not beaten a top 25 player all season, but at Stanford has now taken down number 23 Zheng Jie of China, number six Elena Dementieva of Russia and number 11 Radwanska. Sharapova faced a stiff challenge but finally repelled the Pole when she boomed a service winner.