Brisbane, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) – Top-seeded Roger Federer was an
easy quarterfinal winner Friday at the season-opening Brisbane International
tennis event.
Federer and his other fellow top-four seeds all secured berths in the final
four this weekend.
The 2014 Brisbane runner-up Federer whipped Aussie wild card James Duckworth
6-0, 6-1 in a laughable 40 minutes on the hardcourts at Queensland Tennis
Centre.
“I had a great start to the match. Calmed the nerves,” Federer said. “It was a
bit tense yesterday. Today, I was serving well, returning well, playing
aggressive.”
Federer, who lost to Aussie favorite Lleyton Hewitt in last year’s all-former-
No. 1 Brisbane final, will meet “Baby Fed,” fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, on
Saturday. The 2013 Brisbane runner-up Dimitrov eased past Slovak Martin Klizan
6-3, 6-4.
“I’m always excited when I get to play a match like that against a player like
that,” said Dimitrov, who has lost both of his previous matches against the
17-time Grand Slam champion Federer. “I have quite a bit of experience behind
me now. I’ve learned from each match that I’ve played against him. I like my
odds.”
The other semifinal will pit second-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori
against third-seeded Canadian slugger Milos Raonic. The Japanese star
Nishikori rolled past Aussie Bernard Tomic 6-0, 6-4, while Raonic outgunned
Aussie Sam Groth 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-6 (7-2) in a 37-ace affair, including 22
from the loser.
Brisbane serves as a tune-up for the Australian Open, which will begin January
19 in Melbourne.
