The 28-year-old claimed a 6-4, 6-4 victory over his visibly frustrated Serbian opponent to book a place in his first-ever Masters final.

At one point, Djokovic ripped his shirt open in frustration and was further enraged at receiving a time violation when changing it.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion raised the point with umpire Carlos Bernardes at the end of the match.

"He was the star of the show," Djokovic said of the official.

"That's what he wanted to be today.

"But there are definitely things that I need to regain from the emotional, mental point of view."

Djokovic failed to take the two break-point chances he manufactured in the opening set and it was world number 19 Bautista Agut who profited, winning it with his first break point and prompting his opponent to smash his racquet. 

A break from Bautista Agut had opened up a 4-2 lead in the second set, but a lapse in concentration allowed Djokovic to cancel it out.

The Spaniard, who had never beaten Djokovic in five previous meetings, struck back again though to give him the opportunity to serve for the match at 5-3.

Three match points came and went in a dramatic ninth game that was won by Djokovic, but Bautista Agut made no mistake with his first opportunity in the 10th to seal victory in an hour and 47 minutes.

Awaiting Bautista Agut in the final is Britain’s Andy Murray, who reached his 10th final of the year with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Gilles Simon of France.

The 29-year-old was broken in the first game of the match, but went onto capitalise on a set point following sixth successive breaks of serve.

World number 32 Simon looked down and out when trailing 5-1 in the second set and, despite clawing back a break and then holding serve, it ultimately proved to be the case as Murray sent down an ace in the ninth game to keep up his quest for a sixth title of the year.