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[VIDEO] Roger Federer vs Milos Raonic highlights: Brisbane International final scores, blog

11th January, 2015
Start: 8pm AEDT
Head to head: 7-1
Last Meeting: Roger Federer – ATP World Tour finals 2014 – 6-1 7-6
Betting: Federer 1.25 Raonic 4
TV: 7Two (Live in ALL MARKETS)
Roger Federer continued his comeback by winning Indian Wells. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Roar Guru
11th January, 2015
109
4223 Reads

Tonight could be a historic night for Roger Federer as he takes on Milos Raonic in the final of the Brisbane International at the Pat Rafter Arena. Join The Roar for a live blog of the match from 8:00pm AEDT.

A win by the Fed Express tonight would bring him to 1000 career wins in the ATP world tour.

16 years and 103 days after winning his first match against Guillaume Raoux at the Toulouse Open, Federer has the chance to become just the third male tennis player to record 1000 victories.

A win tonight would join Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl as the only other men to achieve the feat.

It would also be another notch in an impressive belt for Federer.

This belt includes 17 Grand Slam titles, 1 Davis Cup, 1 Gold Medal, 1 Hopman Cup and 23 ATP Masters Titles. A 1000th win today would also be the 83rd ATP title for the Swiss Maestro.

It would also be his second non-Grand Slam tournament win in Australia. In 2002, as a 20 year old, Federer won the Sydney International.

Looking to stop him tonight will be Milos Raonic. The Canadian has had an incredible week of tennis, and won some intense matches to progress to the final.

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It all started nicely with a 6-3 6-4 win over Mikhail Kukushkin in the 2nd round of the event. It then got tougher in the quarter final and the semi-final.

In those two matches, both went to three sets, with five of the six sets ending in tiebreakers. Against Australian Sam Groth, in the quarters, Raonic won both tiebreakers in the match to beat the unlucky Victorian.

Yesterday’s match against Nishikori had no breaks of serve as three tiebreakers were needed to resolve the clash.

Raonic would win two of them to book his spot in the final.

His 34 aces during the match were the difference between the two. Today he faces Federer who was destructive in his last two matches.

After struggling against John Millman, in a three set match in the second round, Federer has bounced back in devastating style.

In the quarters he won 6-0 6-1 against James Duckworth before beating the world number 11, Grigor Dimitrov, 6-2 6-2 yesterday.

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After conceding 13 games to Millman on Wednesday night, he has only lost 5 games since.

The key to the final tonight will be the serve. Both players have strong serves that are hard to break down.

During the tournament both players have only been broken three times. Federer was broken by Millman twice in the 2nd round match with Raonic broken by Groth in their quarter final clash.

If one player can control the others serve then they will take control of the match.

The other vital area of the game will be the movement of the two players.

Raonic – with his height – has a disadvantage in movement compared to Federer. Federer is one of the best movers in the game and will move Raonic around a lot in the match.

Raonic needs to finish points quickly, and provide plenty of power in the match. This will be the fascinating battle of the match.

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Can Raonic hit enough winners in shorter points to overcome the movement of Federer?

In previous matches between the two, Raonic has failed to do that, with Federer dominating the head to head with seven wins out of the eight they have played.

Raonic, at the Paris Masters, broke a six game winning streak by the Fed Express over him.

This promises to be a tight match. Six of the eight matches between the two have had a tiebreaker in it. I expect one tonight and Raonic to potentially win a set against Federer.

In the last two days, Federer has hit form, and that form is good enough to beat almost everyone on the tour.

The Fed Express looks primed to win this tournament and bring up his 1000th win tonight.

Prediction: Roger Federer 2-1

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