Milos Raonic celebrates winning the Brisbane International final against Roger Federer.
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“Big serving guys are always just tricky”, said Federer of his match-up with Raonic, against whom he is 9-1 in FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, his lone loss coming in the ATP Masters 1000 Paris quarter-finals in 2014.
“I’m getting used to conditions, which is usually the case after a couple of matches”. “You can learn so many things from him”.
“I really had to take control in my own hands, because she comes up with some really hard situations and combinations which keep you on your toes”, Azarenka said.
“But I think the players have a lot of respect for Bernie’s game”.
Federer overcame Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the other semi-final, blasting ahead to claim the first set 6-1 before being forced into a tighter second by the 22-year-old.
Federer, after showing signs of fatigue in the second set, took a quick break before the third, and then went on a roll to set up three match points in the ninth game.
“He’s been looking good. Clearly with a serve like that things are always complicated”.
Milos Raonic exacted revenge on Roger Federer by beating the Swiss in straight sets to win the Brisbane International.
Australian Bernard Tomic moved into the Brisbane International semifinals on Friday at the Pat Rafter Arena, holding off second-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan for a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory. “Now I’m at the level [over the] past few months being in the top 20 and playing these players that have been consistently in the top 10, top 5 in the world”.
Raonic booked his place in the semi-finals with a 6-4 6-4 win over France’s Lucas Pouille. Raonic had no trouble serving for the set, wrapping up the opener in 41 minutes.
After trailing 5-0 in the decisive tiebreak, Tomic clawed back to 5-5, but Raonic whipped a forehand victor down the line to bring up match point.
“This year, it was a bit tougher (for me), I was a bit sick, but I’m still here in the final and I couldn’t be happier”.
Although Nadal’s game has been much improved since certain points of last season, I still like the Serbian’s odds of capturing the Doha title in straight sets tomorrow.
In the women’s final, Victoria Azarenka displayed the kind of form that could lead her to a hat-trick of Australian Open titles later this month by brushing aside German fourth seed Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-1.
Raonic stopped working with Ivan Ljubicic late a year ago and recently hired Carlos Moya as a coach.
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Top-ranked Williams was on the injured list this week, restricted to one set at the Hopman Cup in Perth because of inflammation in her left knee, while No. 2 Simona Halep and 2015 champion Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Brisbane tournament before playing a match and No. 3-ranked Garbine Muguruza retired with injury in her opening match.
