There are 1,000 reasons why Swiss great Roger Federer wants to win the Brisbane International on Sunday night.
But big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic could only cite one ahead of his final showdown with the 17-time grand slam champion - yet it was a doozy.
Top seed Federer will hope for career win No.1000 - and 83rd overall title - when he lines up at Pat Rafter Arena against world No.8 Raonic in the tournament decider.
Only two men, American Jimmy Connors (1253) and Czech great Ivan Lendl (1071), have claimed more than a thousand victories in ATP Tour history.
However, third seed Raonic sounds just as inspired after overcoming world No.5 Kei Nishikori 6-7 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) in their epic Brisbane semi-final.
Raonic admitted the success of Generation Next on tour had convinced him to think big this year.
And it won't come much bigger than bringing world No.2 Federer's Australian Open lead-up to an abrupt halt.
Raonic watched in awe as Swiss ace Stan Wawrinka (Australian Open) and Croatia's Marin Cilic (US Open) stole 2014 grand slam success away from the big four of Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.
"Seeing Stan win in Australia I think gave a lot of players sort of like a moment just to reflect and take a deep breath and say 'okay, somebody else other than the top four guys can do it'," Raonic said.
"Then seeing Marin do it as well, just sort of cements that thought in your head to keep pushing for that, and maybe you can achieve it before you thought you could."
Raonic obviously has the arsenal to take down Federer after a game of tennis almost broke out in a display of serve in his semi-final with second seed Nishikori.
Remarkably, the pair didn't drop a service game in their 151-minute epic.
Raonic will be aiming to claim the seventh title of his career and there are no prizes for guessing how.
The big serving Canuck reeled off an incredible 34 aces against Nishikori.
But it will be easier said than done against Federer, who dismissed highly rated Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov to claim a 6-2 6-2 semi-final win in just 53 minutes on Saturday.
Yet Federer preferred to talk up the threat of Raonic, despite holding a 7-1 record against the Canadian.
"I think this is a big year for him to back it up and actually take it even to the next level," Federer said.
"He's doing that this week already by beating a rival for him in Nishikori."
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