Milos Raonic beats Bernard Tomic to reach successive Brisbane finals
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Milos Raonic reached the Brisbane International final for the second year running when he beat local Bernard Tomic 7–6 (5), 7–6 (5) on Saturday in the semifinals.
Fourth-seeded Raonic lost the 2015 decider to Roger Federer and could meet the 17-time major winner in the championship match again. Federer was playing eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem in the second semifinal.
Unseeded Victoria Azarenka will be chasing her first title since 2013 when she takes on No. 4-seeded Angelique Kerber in the women's night final.
Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion who won the Brisbane title in 2009 and lost the final here in 2013, continued a recent surge in form with a lopsided 6-0, 6-3 win against American qualifier Samantha Crawford in the semifinals. Kerber beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6–2, 6–3.
