Roger Federer raced past Dominic Thiem in his first career FedEx ATP Head2Head against the Austrian on Saturday at the Brisbane International 6-1, 6-4, setting up a rematch of the 2015 final against Canada’s Milos Raonic. It marks the Swiss’ third straight trip to Brisbane’s trophy match.

“I think it was my best match of the tournament,” said Federer, who totaled 12 winners to just 10 unforced errors in the hour-long affair. “I thought I hit the ball pretty well, but that’s usually how it goes. You always play better toward the end. Nobody cares how you played at the beginning, as long as you got there. I’m very excited to be back in the final. It’s going to be special playing Milos again tomorrow.”

The defending champ was in control from the very start at Pat Rafter Arena, where he raced out to a 5-0 lead in the 22-minute first-set before Thiem managed to get on the scoreboard. 

Like Federer, the No. 8-seed boasts a sweeping one-handed backhand, which he used to good effect in his quarter-final upset of No. 3 seed Marin Cilic. But the 22-year-old, who finished 2015 as the youngest player in the Top 20 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, was rarely able to use it to hurt his veteran opponent in the semi-finals.

Federer converted service breaks in the first and seventh games of the final set, as the unforced errors began to mount for Thiem (he finished with 26). With the loss, he fell to 1-10 against Top-10 competition.

Federer, 34, defeated Raonic in last year’s title match, which served as his 1,000th career victory on the ATP World Tour.

Milos Raonic is into the Brisbane International final for the second straight year. On a muggy Saturday afternoon at Pat Rafter Arena, the No. 4 seed ousted No. 7 seeded Australian Bernard Tomic 7-6(5), 7-6(5) to book a return trip to the title match.

“It was a great match today, a difficult one against Bernie,” said Raonic. “He’s been playing so well, and I know he’s going to do great things this year. I’m happy with the way I’ve been able to start the year. I’m happy with the way things are progressing.”

The 6-foot-5 Canadian dug himself out of a 0-40 hole to hold for 3-2, and went on to take the evenly played first set in a tie-break, edging the home country favourite in winners 24-16.

Tomic came into the semis boasting a tournament-best 41 aces. But it was Raonic who was the bigger server on Saturday, out-acing the 23-year-old 13-10. His 12^th ace of the night sent the second set into a tie-break, where he raced out to a 5-1 advantage. Tomic reeled off four straight points to level the stanza before Raonic capped the win with a nifty spin volley at the net.

Raonic is now 2-0 against Tomic, having won their first FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter in Tokyo in 2014.

Roger Federer defeated Raonic in last year’s title match, which served as the Swiss’ 1,000th victory on the ATP World Tour.

In doubles action, No. 2 seeds Henri Kontinen/John Peers combined for 10 aces and 28 winners in defeating No. 4 seeds Dominic Inglot/Robert Lindstedt 6-4, 6-3 to reach Sunday’s final, where they’ll face the Australian duo of James Duckworth/Chris Guccione. Duckworth/Guccione advanced via walkover over Kei Nishikori and Grigor Dimitrov, a late withdrawal due to shoulder soreness.

Rafael Nadal will attempt to capture his first ATP World Tour hard-court title for two years on Saturday when he plays familiar foe Novak Djokovic in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final. “I know if I’m playing well, I am going to have opportunities,” said Nadal. The top seeds will meet for a record 47^th time on the ATP World Tour. The series is currently tied 23-all, with Djokovic winning the past four matches.

Nadal, who won the 2014 title, booked a place in his 99th tour-level final (67-31 record) by knocking out World No. 94 Illya Marchenko, appearing in his third ATP World Tour semi-final. 6-3, 6-4 in 78 minutes.

“I did a few good things, and I’m happy with the victory, being in the first final of the season in the first official tournament is something great,” said Nadal. “For sure it’s important for my confidence, confirming that the end of the 2015 season had been something realistic and [in] the beginning of 2016 I [am] still playing well.”

Nadal opened up a 3-0 lead in the first set, which he won in 35 minutes. With a string of winners, Marchenko recovered from 15/40 in the opening game of the second set, but Nadal soon applied the pressure and broke to love for a 3-2 advantage.

Marchenko defeated defending champion David Ferrer in the first round and overcame No. 7 seed Jeremy Chardy in the quarter-finals

Meanwhile, Djokovic improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Tomas Berdych to 22-2 by downing the Czech 6-3, 7-6(3) in the semi-finals. Djokovic dropped serve in the opening game of the match, but did not falter on serve the rest of the way and closed out the win in just under two hours.

Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez captured their first ATP World Tour team title on Friday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. It was Marc Lopez’s third Doha crown, following runs to the 2009 and 2011 titles (w/Nadal).

The third-seeded Spaniards defeated fourth seeds Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya 6-4, 6-3 in the 66-minute doubles final on Friday night. They split $64,420 in prize money and earned 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points.

“It’s my third title, but first with Feli. I love playing in Doha,” said Marc Lopez. “Every year I play well here. I will be back for sure.”

Feliciano Lopez said, “It was our first time playing together in a while, but today in the final we played some of our best tennis. Yesterday we played well against Jamie [Murray] and Bruno [Soares] but we really played our best today.”

Almost 12 years on from their lone ATP World Tour team final (2004 Valencia), the Spaniards broke Peya in the first game, but failed to convert three set point opportunities at 5-3 en route to winning the 35-minute set.

Poor volleying by Petzschner saw Peya lose his serve to 30 in the third game of the second set. At 3-2, Marc Lopez recovered from 0/40 by winning four straight points and the Spaniards went on to clinch Petzschner’s serve to 30 for the championship.

Feliciano Lopez captured his first doubles title since 2004 Stockholm (w/Verdasco) and is now 2-7 lifetime in doubles finals, while Marc Lopez is 11-14 overall. They teamed up together this week for the first time since March 2012 at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami.

Petzschner and Peya, who beat World No. 1s Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in the semi-finals, were also contesting their second final as a team. In 2008, they finished runners up in Vienna (l. to Mirnyi-A. Ram).

Petzschner is now 6-3 in doubles finals and Peya is 14-21, having lost the 2014 Doha final (w/Soares). They shared $33,860 and add 150 points.

Marach/Martin Into Chennai Final

Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin defeated top seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 4-6, 7-5, 10-5 in the semi-finals of the Aircel Chennai Open on Friday. The No. 3 seeds were down a set and a break, and broke back when Klaasen/Ram served for the match at 5-4 in the second set.

In quarter-final action, Somdev Devvarman and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan won an all-Indian matchup against N. Sriram Balaji and Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-4, 1-6, 10-6. They will play Austin Krajicek and Benoit Paire for a place in the final.

Stan Wawrinka stretched his winning streak at the Aircel Chennai Open to 10 matches, prevailing 6-4,6-4 against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Friday. The top seed secured the win in 77 minutes and improved to 7-3 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry.

Wawrinka’s serving power was on display, as he fired 14 aces and only dropped seven points when he landed a first serve. The Spaniard converted on his only break point of the match, but the Swiss went 3-for-9 on break opportunities to take the win.

Attempting to stop Wawrinka’s run in the semi-finals will be old friend and occasional doubles partner Benoit Paire, who eliminated qualifier Thomas Fabbiano in the Italian’s first ATP World Tour quarter-final appearance.

The No. 3 seed also struck 14 aces on Friday, but only found the court with 44 per cent of first serves and needed to fend off six of 10 break points to advance. It will be something to improve upon against Wawrinka, as the Swiss has won five of six meetings against the Frenchman. Their most recent meeting came in the final of Tokyo last fall. Wawrinka won 6-2, 6-4.