The set now back under his control, Murray closed it out with another break as he fired one brilliant winner down the line from deep behind the baseline, before racing in to collect a drop shot and whip a cross-court forehand past Federer on set point.
But the Briton took the next four points, gaining a crucial one on the Frenchman's serve when he was quick to react to a drop shot and steer a forehand winner crosscourt.
After 25 minutes of brutally effective shot making by Djokovic including several sublime cross-court backhands the unthinkable started to look possible: that Nadal could lose a set on clay 6-0.