After a tough loss to Milos Raonic in the Brisbane final Saturday, Roger Federer commented on the lopsided 61, 62 demolition win by Novak Djokovic over Rafael Nadal in the Doha title match.

The three games were the fewest Nadal’s ever won against Djokovic in 47 career meetings.

“That kind of a scoreline is always a surprise between two top guys,” Federer said. “You rarely see blowouts, so to some extent …

Novak Djokovic is already in tip-top form after destroying rival Rafael Nadal 61, 62 to win his first Doha title on Saturday. Djokovic has now made 16 straight finals and since the start of last year, he’s won 12 events.

With Djokovic’s increasing his ranking lead and dominating the tour, the Serb is seemingly unstoppable. But despite his near-perfect match against Rafa, he’s not invincible.

“No, I don’t feel invincible. Nobody is …

After suffering his worst career loss to Novak Djokovic yesterday in the Doha final, Rafael Nadal was looking at the positive.

“The opponent was too good. And when something like this happens, the only thing you can do is applause him and congratulate the opponent,” Nadal said. “For my side, I am happy the way that I am working and I gonna keep working.”

Nadal, who’s been playing better the last six …

A title during the first week of the season is special for most players. For Swiss Stan Wawrinka its become expected.

Wawrinka on Sunday stared down rising teen star Borna Coric 6-3, 7-5 for his third straight title, and fourth career, at the Aircel Chennai Open in India.

Over the three years of taking home trophies the Swiss hasn’t dropped a set in Chennai.

“I’m always trying to improve,” Wawrinka said. “I’m trying …

Roger Federer had to play “Australian Doubles” on Sunday in the final of the Brisbane International — him on one side of the court, and on the other side the doubles team of Milos Raonic and the flu bug the Swiss thought he had put behind him this week.

In the end Raonic and the illness were too much for the 34-year-old, who fell in the final 6-4, 6-4 to the …

An interesting quote from Novak Djokovic’s 6-1, 6-2 destruction of Rafael Nadal earlier today in the Doha final.

“The match is easy to analyze,” said Nadal after. “I played against a player who did everything perfectly. I don’t know anybody who’s ever played tennis like this. Since I know this sport I’ve never seen somebody playing at this level. So I just congratulate him and that’s it.

“I know I …

AUCKLAND OPEN
Auckland, New Zealand; Surface: hard

Seeds: David Ferrer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, John Isner, Kevin Anderson, Benoit Paire, Fabio Fognini, Ivo Karlovic, Roberto Bautista Agut

Floaters: Jack Sock, Vasek Pospisil, Sam Querrey

Notes: Two Top 10ers in the field with the four-time champ Ferrer and Tsonga…The Top 4 seeds receive opening-round byes…Potential tough starts for seeds (7) Karlovic vs. Pospisil (winner to meet Sock) and (3) Isner after a bye vs. Querrey in an …

Novak Djokovic is virtually unbeatable, so he’s just chasing records. Can Roger Federer really win another Slam? How will Andy Murray handle the baby and will Rafa get back to the top? Those questions and more will be answered this season.

For my year-end 2016 Top 10, it’s rinse and repeat. The same four who have dominated the last 10 years will continue to just that. With the next wave still …

APIA INTERNATIONAL SYDNEY
Sydney, Australia; Surface: hard

Men’s Seeds: Bernard Tomic, Dominic Thiem, Viktor Troicki, Grigor Dimitrov, Andreas Seppi, Jeremy Chardy, Leonardo Mayer, Alexandr Dolgopolov

Men’s Floaters: Martin Klizan, Tommy Robredo, Borna Coric, Gilles Muller

Men’s Notes: A bust draw for the men with no Top 10ers and only two in the Top 20 among the seeds…Some early testers for the seeds with (1) Tomic after a bye vs. the riser Klizan, (3) Troicki …

You thought Rafael Nadal was back in the conversation with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray in 2016?

Think again. Or maybe just not in the same stratosphere as the Serb.

The world No. 1 Djokovic rocked Nadal 6-1, 6-2 for the season-opening Qatar ExxonMobil Open title in Doha on Saturday, winning his sixth consecutive ATP title.

Nadal after the final said essentially ‘No worries, the year is young.’

“Today, he’s better than …

Riske Averted, Radwanska Wins Shenzhen Open Title

No. 1 seed Aggie Radwanska beat unseeded American Alison Riske 6-3, 6-2 in the Shenzhen Open final in China, her first title of the year during the first week of play on the WTA tour.

Radwanska says the difference-maker in the match was winning the big points.

“I think Alison was really playing solid tennis today,” Radwanska said. “She has a very powerful game from the …

Look who’s back in the Brisbane title hunt? It’s the ageless wonder Roger Federer. And at 34, he’s still getting it done. Last night in the quarterfinals he knocked out Grigor Dimitrov in three sets, and tonight he’ll join a trio of players 10 years his junior in the last four.

Federer will meet Dominic Thiem who chopped down Marin Cilic. I like Thiem a lot. He’s got good size, quickness, …

Here we go again, and it’s just the first week of the tennis season! Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will go at it Saturday in the Doha final.

The title itself, well, it doesn’t mean that much, though Rafa hasn’t won a hardcourt event since 2014 Doha. But the matchup between two of the best is what matters.

Novak’s been the far superior player the last 18 months and he’ll want to …

For many, especially in the U.S., who missed Roger Federer’s win over Grigor Dimitrov last night in the Brisbane quarterfinals, here are the highlights:

Federer won the match 64, 67(4), 64 to improve to 4-0 against “Baby Fed”.

“I thought I played really well considering, and caught sort of a second wind in the third set,” said Federer. “I had to focus hard, so I …

Is there anything Novak Djokovic can’t do? After his win yesterday over Leonardo Mayer, the world No. 1 dropped some Arabic during the post-match interview:

Djokovic says "I'm happy here in Qatar" in Arabic pic.twitter.com/dokaMYktIk

— The Grandstand (@TennGrand) January 7, 2016

Djokovic is in the semifinals in Doha later today against Tomas Berdych.