Rafael Nadal knows better than most that tennis is a game of fine margins. Although he suffered a three-set loss to Milos Raonic in the Brisbane International quarter-finals Friday night, it could easily have been a straight-sets result in the Spaniard’s favour.

After winning the first set 6-4, Nadal had two break chances in the fifth game of the second to go up a set and a break. But he was unable to convert either opportunity, or one additional chance in the third set, as Raonic powered home to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win, helped by 23 aces.

Nadal, who suffered just his second loss in eight career FedEx ATP head2Head meetings with Raonic, had been chasing his 70th tour-level title.

“Matches are decided by just a few things,” Nadal said. “Probably if I make that cross-court forehand passing shot, I would’ve had the break in the second set; there’s a big chance that we will be here [in the media interview room] one hour before with a victory, maybe 6-4, 6-3, or 6-4, 6-4. That’s tennis. That passing shot was long, and that’s it. Then he had the break and the match changes.

“Before he had the break in the second set, I think I was playing better than him. That’s my feeling. And I think that’s the real feeling. I was being better than him on court, and after that he was better than me… I had a big chance. I didn’t convert that chance. And then he was aggressive and he played well.

“He was a little bit better than me tonight. He deserved [to win], and congrats to him.”

Instead of meeting Grigor Dimitrov in Saturday’s Brisbane semi-finals, Nadal will head to Melbourne to prepare for the Australian Open still looking to break a hard-court title drought: Since winning the 2013 US Open, Nadal has won just one hard court title: Doha in the first week of the 2014 season.

Nadal gave little away when asked about his chances at the Australian Open, where he won the title in 2009, but last year lost an epic first-round battle with fellow Spanish lefty Fernando Verdasco.

“I feel that remain one week and a little bit more for the Australian Open start, so I really hope that I can be ready for it, and I’m gonna fight and to practise hard to make it happen. Then what’s gonna happen? I cannot predict, but anything is possible.”

Reflecting on his first visit to Brisbane, Nadal said: “I loved the atmosphere. I really just can say thank you very much to all the organisation of the tournament. Is unbelievable. People are so nice. Make me feel more than, better than like home, maybe.”

Defending champion Milos Raonic remains on course to reach the final of the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp for the third straight year. While the Canadian says that he wants to come forward more in 2017, it was his serve and big forehand that earned him a comeback win over Rafael Nadal on Friday night.

World No. 3 Raonic recorded only his second victory over Nadal in eight meetings with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in two hours and 21 minutes. The Canadian will now face seventh seed and 2013 finalist Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-finals on Saturday.

“I played very well [and] I did a lot of very good things,” said Raonic. “I obviously served well… I started creating opportunities. I was dictating, which wasn’t necessarily the case at the beginning.”

After breaking Nadal for the first time for a 5-3 lead in the second set, Raonic closed it out emphatically with three straight aces and then a crushing forehand winner for a love hold. Raonic then struck a monster forehand winner down the line to break in the first game of the deciding set, and ended the match with a love hold. He hit 23 aces and won 81 per cent of his first service points overall.

The 30-year-old Nadal had been trying to capture his first ATP World Tour hard-court title since the 2014 Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. His last win over a player in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings was against Kei Nishikori in April 2016 in the Barcelona Open BancSabadell final.

Earlier in the day, Dimitrov saved 13 of the 14 break points he faced to win a battle of the single-handed backhands over Dominic Thiem, the fourth seed, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and five minutes.

Dimitrov immediately opened up a 3-0 lead and closed out the 48-minute opener after a 16-point game on his fifth set point opportunity. Thiem broke in the 10th game of the second set, while two service breaks in decider helped World No. 17 Dimitrov to his first Top 10 win since his run to the Beijing final in October 2016.

“It was a good match, I expected to play a good match,” Dimitrov told ATPWorldTour.com. “Thiem is one of the hottest contenders at any tournament, so I’m happy to get a Top 10 win. I was coming in a lot in the first set, but then got off my patterns a little bit. I need to serve better on first serve.”

Dimitrov has a 2-1 lead in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Raonic.

”It’s a difficult match-up,” said Raonic. “(Dimitrov’s) capable of so much. He can do so many great things. It’s really about keeping a level head throughout the match, keeping a flat line, and hoping that that averages out better than what he brings. I’m doing things well. I’m obviously playing significantly better today than I did in my first round, and hopefully I can continue to improve each and every match I play.”

Stan Wawrinka is a only a few games away from surviving a quarter-final scare at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp. Wawrinka leads #NextGenATP star Kyle Edmund 6-7(2), 6-4, 3-2.

Wawrinka broke Edmund to start the deciding set. The Swiss star, who is making his Brisbane debut, is looking to continue his strong start Down Under.

After a long day at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, there are few things Grigor Dimitrov enjoys more than blasting some of his favourite music on the ride home.

For the Bulgarian, and the Brisbane courtesy car drivers, that’s meant plenty of American soloist Whitney Houston.

“Oh, my God. I didn’t know that thing was going to spread around that fast,” Dimitrov told ATPWorldTour.com when asked about his drive-home selection. “There’s just a couple of songs that I really like.”

Dimitrov said the tournament-provided drivers have been so nice to him on the rides back to his hotel that they’ve let him control the car stereo. “I appreciate moments like that. After a long, heavy day, you just want to like come in the car and just listen to what you really want to listen to, and it happened to be Whitney Houston,” he said.

The Monte-Carlo resident is rarely without music during the day, especially when he’s in the car. “Every time I step in my car the music starts right away. That’s the one thing that is super important for me in the car,” he said.

He also wakes up to music and falls asleep to it. “I listen pretty much 24-7,” Dimitrov said. “It’s just a part of me that I don’t think I can live without.”

The seventh seed, who faces Dominic Thiem in the Brisbane quarter-finals on Friday, is picking up where he left off last season. In July, Dimitrov was ranked No. 40 in the Emirates ATP Rankings but ended the year at No. 17 following an honest conversation with new coach Dani Vallverdu.

“I was just not playing good tennis. I think I was doing a lot of wrong things on- and off-the-court, so I think that cost me a lot of matches, a lot of tournaments, so to speak. But at the same time, I was never discouraged. I’m always open to trying something new. I’m not afraid of the work,” Dimitrov said. “As soon as I got Dani on board, things were starting to happen for us a little bit. We kind of sat down, and we were showing our true colours. And I think we came to a conclusion about what’s important is what’s ahead of us and the goals that we had. And I think so far everything has been going quite well for us.”

Dimitrov finished 2016 by reaching the China Open final in Beijing and the semi-finals at the If Stockholm Open. To return to the Top 10 in 2017, Dimitrov said, he’ll need to improve his consistency. The right-hander reached a career-high of No. 8 in August 2014.

“Consistency throughout the year. Playing good at the big matches, winning big matches… I think is pretty much the key,” he said. “Of course, you need to be healthy and everything else but I think if you’re just consistent, you focus on your own stuff, you have the right team around, with the right attitude, then everything is achievable.”

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Qatar ExxonMobil Open – Doha, Qatar

Defending champion Novak Djokovic held a kids clinic with 11 lucky Qatari youngsters.

World No. 1 Andy Murray and Djokovic officially launched the 2017 ATP World Tour season at the Museum of Islamic Art. Watch

Murray, Djokovic, Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga attended the tournament’s player party, where they were in the hot seat as Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares interviewed them for ATP World Tour Uncovered.

Malek Jaziri, Andrey Kuznetsov, Florian Mayer and Gerald Melzer were on hand to assist with the draw ceremony.

Brisbane International Presented By Suncorp – Brisbane, Australia

Stan Wawrinka showed no fear as he did the Gold Coast SkyClimb. Watch

Rafael Nadal made a new furry friend during his first trip to Brisbane: a koala named Dian. Watch

Top seed Milos Raonic took a ride on the CityCat to take in the Brisbane city sights. Watch

Kei Nishikori had his cooking skills put to the test as he learned how to make prawns on the BBQ on South Bank beach, while David Ferrer also learned to make a quick and healthy dish on stage in front of fans.

Grigor Dimitrov and Dominic Thiem participated in kids’ day activities.

Thanasi Kokkinakis met with the tournament ball kids and participated in a short drill with them before presenting them with their official caps.

Gilles Simon signed autographs and visited the Peugeot Mini Tennis activity.

Aircel Chennai Open – Chennai, India

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Roberto Bautista Agut, Damir Dzumhur, Guillermo Duran and Andres Molteni were among those to ring in the New Year at the player party at the official tournament hotel.

Bautista Agut and Steve Darcis were challenged in a cook-off as they made a pizza recipe from a book about healthy eating.

Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna, Duran and Molteni participated in the Play the Pros Kids’ Clinic.