Swiss maestro Roger Federer reached his third successive Brisbane International final on Saturday when he crushed Dominic Thiem in a lopsided semifinal.
Federer took just 60 minutes to down the eighth-seeded Austrian 6-1, 6-4.
Federer lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the 2014 title-decider and beat Canadian Milos Raonic to win the title last year.
Sunday’s final will be a rematch of 2015 after the huge-serving Raonic edged local hero Bernard Tomic 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in one hour, 47 minutes.
“I played some tough matches (against him) in the last, I don’t know, I guess 16 months or so,” Federer said of Raonic.
“I thought he played really well against me here and Indian Wells last year. So he’s been looking good, you know. Clearly with a serve like that things are always complicated.”
Former world number one Victoria Azarenka stormed to her second Brisbane International title when she downed Germany’s Angelique Kerber in straight sets.
Azarenka, who won her maiden WTA title in Brisbane in 2009, overwhelmed the fourth-seeded Kerber, winning 6-3, 6-1 in 73 minutes, her sixth win over the German in six meetings.
It was Azarenka’s first title since she won in Cincinnati in August, 2013.
Sania-Hingis duo triumphsThe world’s top women tennis pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis started the New Year on a brilliant note by clinching the women’s doubles title.
The top-seeded pair took just an hour and 10 minutes to beat German wild card pair of Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 6-1.
This is the Indo-Swiss pair’s 26th win in a row and the first title of 2016. They have now won six titles on the trot — the longest winning streak in the category since the 1994 season when Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva were on a 28 match-winning streak. Also, this is Sania’s second victory here after partnering American Bethanie Mattek-Sands all the way to the title in 2013 while Martina was the defending champion, having sealed the crown with German Sabine Lisicki last year.
Djokovic vs. NadalAt Doha, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will meet for the 47th time and play their 24th final against each other after both won their Qatar Open semifinals on Friday.
Djokovic progressed through to Saturday’s final after overcoming Tomas Berdych in a bruising encounter, 6-3, 7-6(3).
Earlier Nadal also won in two sets but in a more straightforward fashion, beating Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko 6-3, 6-4 in little over an hour.
Of the 23 finals they have contested so far, Djokovic has a slight advantage winning 13. They have faced each other in the final of all four Grand Slams.
Saturday’s final will also be the 99th of Nadal’s career. Head-to-head in all matches, the pair have each won 23.
Australia wins Hopman CupAustralians Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova beat Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina and Alexandr Dolgopolov to win the mixed teams Hopman Cup in Perth on Saturday.
For the first time, the host nation fielded two teams in the tournament, and Kyrgios and Gavrilova went through the week unbeaten as Australia Green, culminating in its 2-0 win over Ukraine to give Australia its second Hopman Cup title.
The results:
ATP & WTA Brisbane International: Men’s singles (semifinals): Milos Raonic bt Bernard Tomic 7-6(5), 7-6(5); Roger Federer bt Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-4.
Women: Final: Victoria Azarenka bt Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-1. Doubles (final): Sania Mirza /Martina Hingis bt Angelique Kerber /Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 6-1.
ATP Qatar Open: (Semifinals): Novak Djokovic bt Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-6(3); Rafael Nadal bt Illya Marchenko 6-3, 6-4.
Hopman Cup (final): Australia Green bt Ukraine 2-0 (Daria Gavrilova bt Elina Svitolina 6-4, 7-6(6); Nick Kyrgios bt Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-4.
