Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic of Canada returns the ball to Rafael Nadal of Spain during the final match of Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, January 2, 2016. Reuters/Stringer

Milos Raonic and Bernard Tomic are through to the semifinals of the 2016 Brisbane International. Raonic downed 78th-ranked Lucas Pouille 6-4 6-4 while Tomic stunned second seed Kei Nishikori in three sets 6-3 1-6 6-3 during Friday’s quarterfinal action at Queensland Tennis Centre.

Raonic is semifinal bound for the second straight year in the Australian city. Raonic beat Nishikori in the semifinals in Brisbane last year before falling to Roger Federer in a thrilling three-set final 6-4 6-7(2) 6-4. This will be the second time that Raonic will play against the seventh seed Australian. He beat Tomic in Tokyo in 2014 7-6(3) 6-3.

The fourth seed Canadian reached the final at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi. Rafael Nadal, who is off to a winning start in 2016, beat Raonic 7-6(2) 6-3. Nadal is currently playing in Doha where he will meet Ilya Marchenko for a spot in the Qatat ExxonMobil Open final.

On the other side of the net - Tomic has entered the Brisbane tournament with a lot of confidence behind his back after achieving his career-high singles rank as World No. 18 last season. On the verge of cracking into the top 10, the local boy will draw energy from home crowd to try to equal his head-to-head score with Raonic.

The winner of the match faces a possible final bout with defending champion Roger Federer, who will meet Grigor Dimitrov in his bid to win his 89th career tour-level title. He is 3-0 against the Bulgarian. The Swiss will play Dominic Thiem in the semifinals after the Austrian upset third seed Cilic 2-6 7-6(4) 6-4 on Show Court 1.

For more information, visit Brisbaneinternational.com.au or ATPWorldTour.com.

RELATED STORIES