BRISBANE: Roger Federer saw what a trio of next generation Grand Slam contenders had to offer on Friday before putting on a show of his own, disposing of Australian wild card James Duckworth in 39 minutes to move into the Brisbane International semifinals.

Top-seeded Federer dropped only six points in a 16-minute first set, and won 6-0, 6-1 without really breaking a sweat against No. 125-ranked Duckworth — a vast contrast to his rusty, three-set opening win over John Millman the previous night.

“I had a great start to the match,” Federer said. “I saved energy and stress and nerves. “Yesterday was quite nerve-wracking and physically difficult because it was first match of the season. So I’m very happy I got it done quickly today.”

Federer will now play fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-finals following the Bulgarian’s solid 6-3, 6-4 win over Slovakian Martin Klizan.

Second seed Kei Nishikori, still on a high after reaching the final of last year’s US Open, underlined how far he has progressed over the past 12 months when he demolished Australian hope Bernard Tomic 6-0, 6-4 and will take on Canada’s Milos Raonic for a place in the final.

Third-seeded Raonic won the battle of the big servers when he downed Australian Sam Groth 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-6 (7-2).

Nishikori, Raonic and Dimitrov have yet to win a major title, but they’re widely considered the new wave of future champions. They are all playing their first tournaments of the season in Brisbane, getting primed for the Australian Open starting in Melbourne on Jan. 19.

In the night cap, Russia’s Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic of Serbia won their semi-finals in the women’s draw to set up a highly-anticipated showdown in the lead-up to the first Grand Slam of the season.

Sharapova beat the talented Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-3 to reach the final without dropping a set while Ivanovic battled her way to a 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 victory over American Varvara Lepchenko.

Poland advanced to the Hopman Cup final in Perth by clinching a point against defending champion France, setting up a final against the US.

Alize Cornet beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 to give France the lead, but Poland secured top spot in the group when Jerzy Janowicz beat Benoit Paire 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).

At the ASB Classic in Auckland, top seed Caroline Wozniacki fought back from a set down to scrape through to the finals and a showdown with third seed Venus Williams.

Wozniacki lost the first set and the first serve of the second before recovering to beat Czech fourth seed Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 4-6,6-3, 6-4 in two hours 35 minutes.

Venus, who lost last year’s Auckland final to Ivanovic, had a much easier path to the final, taking 67 minutes to beat unseeded fellow American Lauren Davis 6-0, 6-3.

Djokovic laid low by Karlovic

DOHA: World number one Novak Djokovic’s hopes of preparing for another Grand Slam bid with the 49th title of his career were shattered by giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic at a windswept Qatar Open on Thursday.

The six-foot 11-inch, 35-year-old Karlovic, the tallest and oldest player on the main tour, won 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 to make the semi-finals where he will play David Ferrer, who beat Dustin Brown of Germany 6-2, 6-2. Brown gifted 61 unforced errors.

In the other semi-final, third-seeded Tomas Berdych will meet Andreas Seppi of Italy. Berdych put down sixth-seeded Richard Gasquet of France 6-2, 6-1 and Seppi undid Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 6-4 for the sixth time in seven matchups.

Published in Dawn January 10th , 2014

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