The first weekend of ATP finals is upon us and as we preview the Brisbane and Chennai ATP finals, David Ferrer is one game away from a title in Doha, Qatar.  After an upset filled week [mostly in Doha], we are a match away from crowning the first winners of the 2015 ATP season.

ATP Brisbane

[1] Roger Federer vs. [3] Milos Raonic

Top seed Federer continued his good form from the last season to Brisbane dropping just 5 games in quarters and semis on the way to the final. Raonic battled past his rival and second seed Kei Nishikori in three tiebreakers in a match lasted over two and a half hours in the semis. He heavily relied on his missile like serve throughout the tournament and had to work very hard in each game. Federer in contrast crushed his opponents in his last two matches combined to last barely 100 minutes though he struggled in his opening match against wildcard entrant Millman. He will be hoping to carry the same momentum on Sunday which would see him record thousand match wins on ATP world tour. A feat only achieved by two other men (Conners and Lendl) in open era (since 1968). Victory would also mean his 83rd career title and first title down under since 2010 Australian Open. Raonic trails 7-1 in head to head against Federer, his only victory coming at the Paris Bercy masters quarterfinal in late last season. He broke Roger’s serve only twice so far in 8 matches which demonstrates the great man’s supremacy over his younger opponent. They played each other on all surfaces in big events, Federer triumphed in straight sets last time when they met in Australia in the fourth round of 2013 edition. We can expect another thrilling service battle on Sunday’s final which is their first outing in a title decider.

Prediction: Swiss maestro proves to be too good for Canadian’s almost one dimensional game. World no.2 will hoist the silverware in straight sets with one of them being decided in tiebreaker. Raonic would be hoping for an off day for Federer (like it happened to him in last year’s final against crowd favorite Lleyton Hewitt) to have any chance in the match.

ATP Chennai

[1] Stan Wawrinka vs [Q] Aljaz Bedene

Another ATP event, and another Swiss Tennis star makes it to the final in dominant fashion. Stan Wawrinka, the reigning Australian Open Champion is in prime form to defend his Chennai Crown. Wawrinka is yet to lose a set in 3 matches and he has run through 3 of the big names in the draw – Borna Coric, Gilles Muller and David Goffin. Winning the title might give Wawrinka a much needed boost of confidence ahead of his all-important title defense in Melbourne – which starts in about a week’s time.

His opponent is a qualifier who has made it to the finals against all odds – Aljaz Bedene from Slovenia. Bedene has had to run through a 2nd rung of Spanish Armada – Feliciano Lopez, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and his most stunning win of them all – against Roberto Bautista-Agut in the semi-finals. Bedene saved 4 match points in his semi-final victory and he will have to recover from it mentally and physically to get through the defending Champion – Stan Wawrinka.

Prediction: Bedene has put together an impressive string of victories and will press hard to add another big name to the list of players he has conquered, but Stan Wawrinka should end Bedene’s impressive run, in straight sets. Wawrinka to win 6-3, 7-6(4)

-Harish Narahari [Harish Narahari is a Sports Analyst for the Tennis Galaxy at Sportz Cosmos He tweets here]