Novak Djokovic said Andy Murray was well below his best in their BNP Paribas Open semi-final on Saturday.
The Serbian world number one claimed a resounding 6-2 6-3 win at Indian Wells, booking a spot in the final against Roger Federer.
While Djokovic was happy with his performance in the Australian Open final rematch, he felt Murray was nowhere near his best.
Murray served at just 47 per cent in what was an error-riddled performance.
"Even though it's a straight-set victory, I still had to earn it," Djokovic was quoted as saying by the ATP World Tour website.
"I thought that he didn't play close to his highest level. He made a lot of unforced errors, especially from the forehand side. Low percentage of first serves in. That allowed me to obviously step in and be aggressive.
"I thought I played solid, with the right intensity from the beginning. Good first serve percentage. Got some free points there in the important moments."
Murray fell behind early in both sets, broken in the second game of the first before also going 2-0 down in the second.
The Brit said his starts to sets were particularly costly.
"At the end of both sets, I started to play a bit better and made it tougher and was able to push him a bit," Murray said.
"But not enough at the beginning of the sets to make it challenging enough for him."