By Chris Oddo | Friday, January 8, 2016
Roger Federer eased past Dominic Thiem to reach the Brisbane final for the third straight time on Saturday.
Photo Source: Chris Hyde/Getty
New season, same magical maestro.
Roger Federer won his third match in three days, pushing past 22-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem on Saturday in Brisbane to reach the final for the third time in succession.
Federer’s 6-1, 6-4 victory sets up another clash with hard-serving Canadian Milos Raonic in the final. Federer defeated Raonic in three sets in 2015 at Brisbane to earn his 1,000th career victory and kick off a memorable season that saw him reach the final at two majors and notch six titles.
“I think it was my best match of the tournament, I really thought I hit the ball very well,” Federer said after the match.
Federer needed just an hour to power past the rising Austrian, but after he cruised through the first set with the loss of just one game, he was pushed harder by Thiem in a second set that was even through six games.
Thiem, a swashbuckling youngter who plays at two speeds—fast and faster—certainly wasn’t shy about hitting toe-to-toe with Federer, and he turned his share of jaw-dropping winners from both wings. But at times Thiem seemed to lack nuance and got into trouble by over-hitting and committing loose errors. Thiem hit 19 winners aginst 26 unforced errors on the night, and he shot himself in the foot by playing an error-prone game to hand Federer the break for 4-3 in the second set.
From there Federer took the reins, and even though he couldn’t convert his first match point with Thiem serving at 3-5, he served out the match comfortably, sealing it with his sixth ace.
Earlier in the day Raonic booked his berth in the final by Edging Bernard Tomic 7-6(5), 7-6(5). The Canadian peppered Tomic with 13 aces and saved all four break points he faced to reach his 16th career final.
Federer holds the 9-1 lifetime edge over Raonic, including wins in their last three matches.