Brisbane, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Top-seeded Roger Federer was an easy quarterfinal winner Friday at the season-opening Brisbane International tennis event.
Federer and his other fellow top-four seeds all secured berths in the final four this weekend.
The 2014 Brisbane runner-up Federer whipped Aussie wild card James Duckworth 6-0, 6-1 in a laughable 40 minutes on the hardcourts at Queensland Tennis Centre.
"I had a great start to the match. Calmed the nerves," Federer said. "It was a bit tense yesterday. Today, I was serving well, returning well, playing aggressive."
Federer, who lost to Aussie favorite Lleyton Hewitt in last year's all-former- No. 1 Brisbane final, will meet "Baby Fed," fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, on Saturday. The 2013 Brisbane runner-up Dimitrov eased past Slovak Martin Klizan 6-3, 6-4.
"I'm always excited when I get to play a match like that against a player like that," said Dimitrov, who has lost both of his previous matches against the 17-time Grand Slam champion Federer. "I have quite a bit of experience behind me now. I've learned from each match that I've played against him. I like my odds."
The other semifinal will pit second-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori against third-seeded Canadian slugger Milos Raonic. The Japanese star Nishikori rolled past Aussie Bernard Tomic 6-0, 6-4, while Raonic outgunned Aussie Sam Groth 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-6 (7-2) in a 37-ace affair, including 22 from the loser.
Brisbane serves as a tune-up for the Australian Open, which will begin January 19 in Melbourne.
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