Federer, Raonic reach Brisbane International final

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.

Brisbane, Jan.9: Top-seeded Roger Federer displayed a dominant performance as he swept aside Dominic Thiem in straight sets to storm into the finals of Brisbane International at Pat Rafter Arena on Saturday.

The Canadian said that in general “I was staying quite a bit ahead on my serve and always close on his”.

Raonic’s booming serve is clearly an unparalleled weapon in this match-up – unfortunately for him Federer has been serving very well this week as well. “Last year, unfortunately, I lost very comfortably to Kei, and today played very different”.

“The most important thing is if you feel yourself that every time you go on court you are competitive against everybody and you have your chances”.

Raonic will provide another stern examination of those top-10 credentials after the Canadian easily took down France’s Lucas Pouille 6-4 6-4. “For myself it signifies within the team how concrete and good the work we’re doing is.”, Raonic said.

She beat former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the first round and also seems to be approaching her best form as she prepares to play the qualifying tournament for the Australian Open.

On the women’s side, fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber moved into the final by beating Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-3.

Tomic prevailed 6-3 1-6 6-3 against the 2014 U.S. Open runner-up on Friday to continue his push to the world’s top 10 as he appears to be finally realising his potential after some turbulent early years on Tour. She retired with a stomach virus during the first round of the Shenzhen Open in China last week. 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.

“I definitely didn’t play my best”, Federer said.

“I’m not going to tell you too much, but it was tough in a way”, Federer said of his illness, knowing the Australian Open starts January 18. “If I would’ve known I would’ve made the finals five days ago I would’ve been unbelievably happy”.

Tomic is Australia’s highest ranked player, but with Nick Kyrgios (30th in the world) playing a leading role in earning Australia’s first Hopan Cup in 17 years and making noises about winning his maiden Major, it’s nearly time for Bernie to start looking over his shoulder.

I see another tightly contested match, here, inviting me to try backing Bernard Tomic with the two-and-half-game spread, especially with the home crowd behind him in Australia.