Federer sets up Raonic showdown at Brisbane International

On the fifth day of the tournament, Federer finally opened his 2016 season with a commanding 6-2, 6-1 win over German qualifier Tobias Kamke, and advanced to a quarterfinal against Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Viktor Troicki 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-2 earlier on Thursday.

Roger Federer of Switzerland plays a shot in the men’s final match against Milos Raonic of Canada during the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016.

Raonic took a medical timeout 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 needed only one more break point opportunity in the seventh game to convert and take a lead for a second time in the match.

Azarenka won back-to-back Australian Open titles from 2012 and has reached the US Open final twice, losing both to world No 1 Serena Williams.

“I’ve still got a cough and the throat is a bit weird”, he told reporters after his defeat.

In the semifinals, he’ll meet the victor of Friday’s later quarterfinal between second-second Kei Nishikori and local hope Bernard Tomic.

“(There are) sort of two steps”, he said, “being able to step up and play great for two weeks, which I believe I can definitely do. “When I was warming up before the match I knew I was feeling great in all aspects of my game”.

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.

He said: “Hopefully a better year this year than the last”.

Federer played at a limited capacity in Brisbane, his only Open lead-up tournament, due to a flu bug that swept through his family and threatened to sideline the event’s biggest drawcard.

It is Raonic’s eighth ATP title and one of his most important as he seeks to make good on Federer’s recent prediction that he can become a top-five player this year and establish himself as a force to be reckoned with.

The challenge, then, of backing up four days in a row to reach the final may have been too much against the towering, powerful Raonic, who won 20 net points to Federer’s seven.

If Raonic was not already confident with how he was controlling the match, he was surely boosted by an unhappy Federer dropping his racket to the court and standing, hands on hips, in disgust at another netted return.

He said he was finally playing injury free for the first time in nine months.

He will now move to Melbourne to complete his preparation for his 17th Australian Open, where he will be joined by Doha Open finalists Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.