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 Federer left his opponent and the center court crowd stunned as he
charged to a 5-0 lead at the Pat Rafter Arena before encountering
stiffer resistance from his 22-year-old opponent as the match
progressed at the Australian Open warm-up.
The youngest player in the top 20, Thiem shrugged off the first set
horror show to unleash some exquisite backhand winners in the second
that had the Swiss master nodding approval.
Federer's serve was bullet-proof during the clutch moments, however,
and the world number three closed out the contest with a booming ace
on his second match point.
Federer, who will be contesting his third consecutive Brisbane final
and is one victory away from an 89th ATP title, hailed his "best
match" of the tournament.
"I really thought I hit the ball very well," the evergreen
34-year-old, lathered in sweat from the muggy Brisbane heat, said in
a courtside interview.
"I'm very excited to be back in the final again... It's a great
start to the season and I'm very happy."
Raonic earlier won a battle of big servers to down local contender
Bernard Tomic 7-6(5) 7-6(5) in the first semi.
Both players held their serve throughout the contest but it was the
Canadian who took control in the tiebreaks, jumping out to early
leads on each occasion.
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After Tomic won four straight points to make it 5-5 in the second
set tiebreak, Raonic whipped a forehand winner down the line to
bring up match point.
He closed out the contest in style, lunging for a cross-court
backhand volley to end Tomic's solid run at the tournament, which
included an upset win over world number eight Kei Nishikori.
"It was a great match today, a difficult one against Bernie. He's
been playing so well, I know he's going to do great things this
year," Raonic said.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter
Rutherford/John O'Brien)
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