Defending champion Federer, who has been dealing all week with lingering flu-like symptoms, had a 6-1, 6-4 win over eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem, while Raonic beat local hope Bernard Tomic 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).
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Raonic took a medical time-out at 2-1 in the second set to have treatment on his right leg. When he returned, he served four double faults to give Federer his first break point of the match. Raonic was 20-for-25 at the net and although he had fewer aces than Federer, his 53 per cent success rate on his own second serve against one of the finest returners in the game was a fairly telling stat.
Victoria Azarenka of Belarus reacts after winning her semifinal match against Samantha Crawford of the United States 6-0, 6-3 during the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, Friday.
In a rematch of last year’s Brisbane final Raonic was the steadier player from start to finish, while Federer seemed to dial in and out of focus and uncharacteristically started to show his frustration as the match wore on.
There were no service breaks in the first of the semifinals but Raonic dominated the tiebreakers, racing to 5-1 leads in both and then holding off Tomic after the Australian leveled each tiebreaker at 5-5.
Federer is likely to stand in his way if the Canadian is to go all the way in one of those illustrious events, making this victory in the final of a prestigious competition absolutely crucial in Raonic’s continued progression. Still, Federer was unable to break him in that game.
Azarenka, who was limited to 23 tournaments across the last two seasons because of injuries, was broken once in each set but converted seven of her 11 breakpoint chances against Vinci, who ended Serena Williams’ bid for a true Grand Slam in the US Open semifinals.
“I was staying quite a bit ahead on my serve and always close on his”, Raonic told reporters afterward.
Federer has played the tournament three times, reached the final three times and picked up one title. “Looking back a year ago I was well beaten by Kei, but today I played very different”. “Overall I think it was a better performance today”.
Sloane Stephens was leading 5-2 in the first set of the other semifinal against third-seeded Caroline Wozniacki when rain halted play, forcing it to be postponed to Saturday.
He’s a capable returner; and if Milos plays passively and gets into long rallies with Tomic from the baseline, I expect the Australian to be up to the task.
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“Congratulations Milos on a great start to the year”. “He’s been playing so well, I know he’s going to do great things this year”.
