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| Roger Federer |
Roger Federer climbed
the 1,000 ATP Tour wins milestone as he claimed the
The 33-year-old
Swiss joins Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl as the only players in the modern
professional era to achieve that feat and was claiming his 83rd career title.
Federer led by a set
and 2-0 until Raonic broke back and reeled off seven straight points in the
tiebreaker to level at a set all.
The third set might
have gone either way, with top seed Federer staving off five break points, but
a single break of the Raonic service proved decisive and he completed victory
in two hours 13 minutes.
It completed a fine
week for the world number two as he prepares for a tilt at the upcoming
Australian Open title in Melbourne.
By contrast, his
arch-rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal slipped to early round defeats at
the ATP event in Doha to disrupt their preparations for the opening grand slam
of the season.
Federer, who was
surprisingly beaten in the final of the corresponding event by Lleyton Hewitt
last year, was winning the Brisbane title for the first time. He extended his
career record over the emerging Raonic to 8-1 with his latest triumph, but
still has ground to make up on former greats Connors (1,253 wins) and Lendl
(1,071).
At the presentation
he was awarded the trophy by Roy Emerson and a special award for 1,000 wins by
fellow Australian legend Rod Laver.
"To get to
1,000 wins in front of you two greats means a lot to me," Federer said.
"I'll never
forget this moment."
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