Some players feel pressure playing in front of a home crowd, but Australian teenager Omar Jasika has been thriving on it. 

The Tecnifibre player finished 2016 by reaching his first ATP Challenger Tour semi-final in Canberra, and has started 2017 with his career-best result. Competing at this week’s $75,000 event in Happy Valley, the 19-year-old wild card from Melbourne upset fifth seed Norbert Gombos in the opening round and took out fourth seed Peter Polansky in the quarter-finals. On Saturday, he fought through Joris De Loore to prevail in a third-set tie-break and advance to his first Challenger final.

“I love playing at home and enjoy playing in front of the Aussie crowd,” said Jasika. “I had a pretty good off-season back at home in Melbourne with my dad. I’ve been working on my game a lot, trying to get fitter and stronger. It’s starting to pay off.”

Jasika also had another milestone moment in between his two solid Challenger results. He prevailed in December at the Australian Open wild card playoffs, defeating some of the best players in Australia to earn a main draw berth into the first Grand Slam of the year.

“Reaching my first Challenger semi-final gave me a lot of confidence going into the playoff. Entering a tournament with a few wins under your belt is only a good thing,” said Jasika. “Since I’d made one semi-final [in Canberra], I knew that I could do it again and even better.”

The Aussie is looking to produce similar results throughout 2017 in order to crack the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. He’s also confident that some of the other young Aussies moving up the rankings, including Alex De Minaur and Marc Polmans, will join him in that upper echelon.

“There’s a lot more young Aussies coming up than what we had in the past few years,” said Jasika. “It’s definitely a good thing and we’re all motivating each other to get better.”

Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are starting 2017 right where they left off in 2016. On Saturday, the two will play for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open title, the first singles crown to be decided during the young 2017 ATP World Tour season.

Murray advanced to the title match by beating third seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-4 on Friday evening. The Scot extended two streaks with the one-hour and 41-minute victory. Murray pushed his overall winning streak to 28. He also beat Berdych for the seventh consecutive time, dating back to a 2015 Australian Open semi-final victory.

Their semi-final match in Doha was never in doubt. Murray broke to lead 4-1 in the first set and clinched the opener on his third set point. The Scot earned two breaks in the second set and controlled the match on his racquet, winning almost 80 per cent of his first-serve points.

Earlier on Friday, second seed Djokovic moved into the title contest by saving five match points and beating Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 in two hours and 22 minutes. Djokovic will try to repeat as champion in Doha; Murray will be going for his third Doha title (also 2008, ’09).

Djokovic leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 24-11. The two last played in November during the ATP Finals title match, which was the last match of the 2016 season. Murray won 6-3, 6-4.

Read More: Novak & Andy: The Rivalry

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.