Tennis News

For the second consecutive season, 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer will have an opportunity to lift the Brisbane International title. Last year, he suffered a three-set loss to Lleyton Hewitt in the final and will now come up against the big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic. This marks the ninth time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Federer leading the head to head series 7-1.

Watch the final live here: Federer v Raonic

For the third consecutive time, Roger Federer was able to dispatch his younger namesake Grigor ‘Baby Fed’ Dimitrov without dropping a set. He defeated the world No. 11 6-2, 6-2 in less than an hour of court time. Federer remained dominant on serve throughout the match, as he served 82% of his first service points and saved all four of the break points he faced during the encounter. He is now one win away from the remarkable 1,000 win mark in his career.

“I was able to play straightforward tennis, like yesterday, just really aggressive,” said Federer. “Against a really good player, it’s a great result. Happy I didn’t waste much energy like this. I’m fresh for the finals. Probably got a slight advantage over Milos in that regard.”

He certainly does. Raonic, unlike Federer, was put through a grueling three-set encounter against Kei Nishikori and barley edged the Japanese No. 1 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 7-6(4). The entire match took 2 hours and 33 minutes, where Raonic struck 34 aces and won 86% of his first service points to close out the contest. He will now face Federer in his first ATP final of the season.

While Federer leads the overall head-to-head series 7-1, Raonic managed his first ever win over the Swiss star last November at the Paris Masters. However, he was unable to remain competitive against Federer in their most recent encounter at the ATP World Tour Finals. Therefore, given Federer’s energy conservation over the past few days, he will likely have the advantage against the Canadian on Sunday.

Prediction: Roger Federer in Three Sets

Former world No. 1 Venus Williams earned her 46th WTA title on Saturday afternoon when she lifted the ASB Classic title following a dramatic three-set final against Caroline Wozniacki.

It was Williams’ sixth consecutive win against Wozniacki, and after dropping the first set 6-2, she rallied back to win the match 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

“The first set went fast,” Williams said after the match. “After that I was like, ‘All right, time to take it to three.’ But of course with her playing that well, I had to find a way just to get it to three.

“In the first set she was serving so well. She had an amazing first serve percentage, all those amazing passing shots, even her mis-hits were too good. But I just tried to stay level-headed in the second set and focus on holding, and cut down on my unforced errors too, and it worked for me today.”

Wozniacki, who later admit that she had a picture of Venus on her phone when she was a 12-year-old little Danish girl, was gracious in defeat.

“Venus played really well. She’s had a great week,” Wozniacki said. “I served really well at the start, and I was putting a lot of pressure on her, but she played better and better as the match went on.”

In the doubles final, one of the greatest doubles duos in the history of the WTA, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, defeated fourth seeds Shuko Aoyama and Renata Voracova. It marked their 22nd doubles title together.

With just a few matches to go until he crosses the 1000 match-win mark, all eyes are on Roger Federer as he prepares to face Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-final round of the Brisbane International on Saturday. Federer would become just the third player in the Open Era to reach that remarkable figure but will have to defeat the Bulgarian nicknamed ‘Baby Fed’ before he can do so this week. Federer has never dropped a set against Dimitrov and leads the head-to-head series 2-0.

After being down a set and a break in his first professional match of the year, and against a player ranked outside the Top 150 in John Millman, Roger Federer rebounded with a thrashing of James Duckworth to finish the match 6-0, 6-1 in just 41 minutes of court time. The opening set lasted 16 minutes in total and saw Federer drop just six points in total.

Given his short time on court, Federer is satisfied that he gets to rest for his upcoming encounter against Dimitov.

“I’m very happy,” admitted Federer. “I saved energy and stress and nerves and everything, because yesterday was quite nerve wracking and physically difficult because it was first match of the season. You’re always going to be a bit tense in that match.”

After reaching the final at his debut at the event two years ago, Grigor Dimitrov is determined to return there again this season, but is required to overcome Federer in order to do so. The fourth seed defeated Martin Klizan 6-3, 6-4 in 72 minutes. He struck seven aces, won 76% of his first service points and converted 4 of 5 break point opportunities to close out the match.

Of their two previous encounters on the tour, Federer leads the series 2-0 and is yet to drop a set to Dimitrov. Both those meetings took place in the quarter-final stage of the Basel Indoor event in Switzerland and saw at least one tiebreaker each time. While the likelihood of a competitive match is high, few expect Federer to fall to the youngster on Saturday.

Prediction: Roger Federer in Straight Sets

Following impressive performances all week, Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic will cross paths in the final of the Brisbane International – their third ever meeting in a tournament final and their fifth meeting overall in the past 365 days. Of their 13 encounters throughout the years, Sharapova leads the head to head series 9-4 and will look to add to that figure on Saturday night against the Serbian star.

Watch the match live here: Sharapova v Ivanovic

Matched against one of the WTA tour’s rising stars, five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova dispatched Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-3 in 84 minutes of court time. Sharapova struck six aces, just one double fault and won 70% of her firsts service points to close out the match with relative ease. She was, however, faced with a difficult finish to the match, as Svitolina saved several match points with remarkable defence before bowing out to the Russian.

Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic overcame Varvara Lepchenko 7-6(2), 6-4 to set up her first final in Brisbane. It was far from easy for the Serb, as she had difficulty crossing the finish line in the opening set but pulled herself together for the tiebreaker. She later allowed Lepchenko to work her way from a 5-1 deficit before finishing the match.

“Definitely your heart was raising a little bit, especially that it was really becoming a battle. Like I said, all the way up to that point, even though I was 5-1 up, still felt like a battle all the way through,” Ivanovic said. “I really tried to take it one point at a time and do the things that I’ve been working on and practicing and try not think too much about the result.”

Ivanovic and Sharapova have met four times in the last year and have split the series 2-2. One of those matches (Cincinnati) even featured some controversy before Ivanovic won the contest. However, in their most recent meeting, Sharapova won the match 6-0, 6-4 to reach the Beijing final. Given her determination this week, it is likely that the Russian will be closing in on her first title in Brisbane.

Prediction: Maria Sharapova in Three Sets

For the first time since last year’s Australian Open quarter-final, Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer will cross paths on the professional tour to determine, this time to determine who will lift the Qatar Exxon Mobil title on Saturday. This marks the 14th time that the two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Ferrer leading the head-to-head series 7-6.

Watch the match live here: Ferrer v Berdych

World No. 7 Tomas Berdych needed only 73 minutes to defeat Andreas Seppi in the semi-final round. He struck three aces, won 84% of his first service points and saved all three break points he faced on serve to close out the match 6-2, 6-3. According to the ATP World Tour, Berdych has spent a total of four hours and 12 minutes in all four matches this week.

The Czech No. 1 will come up against David Ferrer, who defeated the towering Croat Ivo Karlovic, fresh off his upset of top seed Novak Djokovic. He survived 30 aces and 67 winners from Karlovic to eventually edge him out 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(4) and reach the Doha final for the first time in his career. Ferrer, who managed 47 winners of his own and served at an accuracy rate of 78% of his first service points, will now look for his first title since last February in Buenos Aires.

“This preseason I worked hard,” said Ferrer. “I had one month of work with my new coach (Francisco Fogues), and I think we improved some details in my tennis, like the slice and my serve. Now I want to rest and to have a massage with my physio and be ready for tomorrow.”

This marks the 14th time that Ferrer and Berdych will cross paths on the professional tour, with the Spaniard leading the series 7-6. Of all the matches taking place on Saturday afternoon around the world, this is likely the most difficult to predict. Both players have looked outstanding this week in Doha and have shown little in terms of faults. This will likely be a close, enthralling three set battle.

Prediction: David Ferrer in Three Sets

Following impressive showings from both competitors throughout the week at the ASB Classic, former world No. 1 players Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams will meet for a sixth time on the professional tour. Wozniacki will look to capture the Auckland title as well as a first ever victory over her American adversary, as Venus remains undefeated in the head-to-head series 5-0.

Watch the match live here: Williams v Wozniacki

As the top seed of the tournament, Danish star Caroline Wozniacki was the first of the two finalists to advance to the exciting berth. However, she also faced the tougher semi-final match-up, and was forced to contest a decider against fourth seed Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. Following a heated contest, Wozniacki rallied back from a set down to edge out the victory 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

“She’s a tricky player to play because she doesn’t give you much rhythm,” Wozniacki said. “She comes to the net, she mixes the pace – I think she played really well today. For me it was about just staying in the match. I didn’t start off too well, I didn’t really feel the depth of the ball that I wanted to. But I started playing better as it went on, and I think she did too. I just had to kind of get going out there.”

Seeded third for this particular event, former finalist Venus Williams had little difficulty dispatching fellow American Lauren Davis to advance to the final. Williams dropped a mere three games in the match and finished with a score of 6-0, 6-3 in 67 minutes. Williams hit four aces, won 71% of her first service points and saved three break points en route to her first final of the season.

“She’s obviously a tough competitor,” Wozniacki said. “She’s played really well this week – very aggressive, serving well, taking the ball early – it won’t be easy, but I’m looking forward to it. I’m happy to be in my first final of the year, and hopefully there will be many more to come this year.”

This marks the sixth time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Williams leading the series with an unblemished 5-0 record. While four of those encounters took place seven years ago, the most recent match-up was last season, where Williams cruised past Wozniacki 6-3, 6-2 en route to winning the Dubai title several days later. While I fully expect this to be a far more competitive encounter, this may be Williams’ time to shine in Auckland.

Prediction: Venus Williams in Three Sets

After many predicted that the top seeds would work their way to the final, it appears only one was able to reach the final match of the tournament, as Simona Halep will meet eighth seed Timea Bacsinszky to determine who will lift the Shenzhen title on Saturday. This is just the second time that these two competitors will cross paths on the WTA tour, with Halep leading the head to head series 1-0.

Watch the match live here: Halep v Bacsinszky

As the top seed at the event, Simona Halep was the first to advance to the tournament final with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over the last remaining Chinese competitors at the event, Zheng Saisai. The contest lasted one hour and 26 minutes and saw Halep win 68% of her first service points and save four of six break points she faced on serve. The Romanian’s difficulty and low stats were due to Zheng’s improved performance in the second set.

“It was a tough match – she played really well in the second set,” Halep said. “I was a little bit nervous, but I stayed focused and it worked very well for me because I was able to come back.

“It’s difficult to play someone for the first time, but I think I did a good job today.”

While many expected Czech No. 1 Petra Kvitova to cruise into the final of the event, she was upset in straight sets by the tournament’s eighth seed Timea Bacsinszky 6-4, 6-4. She was simply unable to find a way through Timea’s defence on court and only managed one break of serve, while allowing herself to get broken three times during the encounter.

For Timea, a player who had dropped past No. 230 in 2014 and worked her way back to the Top 50, looked ecstatic with her win over a gracious Kvitova.

“Timea played really well,” Kvitova said. “She has a really great backhand. Her forehand has more topspin, which is a little bit different. She served well in the important points too.”

This is just the second time that Halep and Timea cross paths on the professional tour, with the Romanian leading the series 1-0 with a victory in Belgium nearly five years ago. Given Timea’s upset win over Kvitova, one should not underestimate her game against Halep, who has not played her best tennis this week in Shenzhen. While the Romanian still deserves the advantage, this could potentially head to a deciding set.

Prediction: Simona Halep in Three Sets