BRISBANE: Roger Federer avoided an embarrassing start to the new season when he dug himself out of trouble to beat little-known journeyman John Millman 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the Brisbane International on Thursday.

What was expected to be a romp in the park for the Swiss maestro quickly turned into a old-fashioned scrap as he struggled to overcome a player ranked 153rd in the world before the 33-year-old came from a set and a break down to overhaul Millman in just over two hours.

Federer will face another Australian wild-card entry in the next round, after James Duckworth beat Jarkko Nieminen 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

Third-seeded Milos Raonic had 17 aces and didn’t face a break point in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan to set up a quarterfinal match against Sam Groth of Australia, who beat Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-3).

The top two players in the women’s draw had contrasting paths to the semi-finals, with top-seeded Maria Sharapova beating Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-1, 6-3 and No 2 Ana Ivanovic struggling to overcome Kaia Kanepi, losing the first five games before coming back to advance 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Sharapova next faces Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, who rallied from a set and a break down to beat third-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 while Ivanovic will play American Varvara Lepchenko in Friday’s semi-finals after she beat Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 7-5, 7-5.

At the Hopman Cup in Perth, Serena Williams and John Isner of the United States reached Saturday’s final with a 3-0 win over Czech Republic.

A sluggish Serena Williams eked out a narrow 6-3, 6-7(1-7), 7-6 (8-6) win over Lucie Safarova and Isner defeated Adam Pavlasek 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 before the American pair won the mixed doubles 6-3, 6-3, with Pavlasek double-faulting on match point.

Earlier, Canada had a 2-1 win over Italy, with Eugenie Bouchard beating Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-4 and Vasek Pospisil beating Fabio Fognini 6-0, 6-3 to secure the victory before the Italian pair won the doubles.

Poland can qualify for a spot in the final against the United States with a round-robin win on Friday over France.

At the ASB Classic in Auckland, former world number ones Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams overcame spirited opposition to reach the semi-finals.

The top-seeded Wozniacki overcame Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-4 while third-seeded Venus saw off Elena Vesnina 6-2 6-4.

Wozniacki’s semifinal opponent will be fourth-seeded Barbora Zhalavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, a 6-4, 7-5 winner over Coco Vandeweghe.

Venus, the losing finalist in Auckland last year, will next meet fellow American Lauren Davis who recovered from losing the first set to beat Polish qualifier Urszula Radwanska 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.—Agencies

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2015

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