Roger Federer will face Milos Raonic in a rematch of last year’s Brisbane International title decider after dominating Austria’s Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-4 in his semifinal on Saturday.
Federer, who has battled flu this week, prevailed in an hour on Pat Rafter Arena to set up a crack at his 89th ATP World Tour title against Raonic, who beat Bernard Tomic in straight sets.
“I think it was my best match of the tournament,” the Swiss maestro said.
The former world No.1 won in a three sets over Raonic in last year’s final, and looks to be in the right kind of form after sweeping aside Thiem, the youngest player in the world’s top 30.
Federer’s performance was largely error-free, although a gallant Thiem managed to break him in the second set and fired home a few impressive winners.
“I really thought I hit the ball really well but that’s how it goes, you always play better towards the end (of the tournament),” Federer said.
“Nobody cares how you played in the beginning as long as you got there.
“I’m very excited to be back in the final, it’s special playing Milos again tomorrow.”
Earlier, No.2 seed Henri Kontinen of Finland and Australian John Peers progressed to the men’s doubles final with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over the No.4 seeds, Dominic Inglot of Great Britain and Swede Robert Lindstedt.
The all-Australian wildcard pairing of James Duckworth and Chris Guccione was handed a walkover through to the decider when Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and Japan’s Kei Nishikori withdrew due to a shoulder injury to Dimitrov.