( CNN ) -- Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer continued their preparations for the first grand slam of the season with contrasting victories Friday at tournaments in Doha and Brisbane . World number one Nadal has never won the Qatar Open and stands just one match away from achieving that ambition . But he was fully extended by German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk before prevailing in three sets . Earlier , Federer dropped just two games on the Gold Coast as he dismissed Marinko Matosevic 6-1 6-1 in just 58 minutes to reach the last four . Nadal , who is the only seed left in the tournament after the shock departures of Andy Murray and David Ferrer , could have been headed that way as he dropped the opening set to Gojowczk , who had enjoyed a dream run to his first ATP Tour semifinal . But the Spaniard hit back to level in typical style and closed out the match 4-6 6-2 6-3 in just under two hours . `` The positive thing is I am in the finals the first week of the season without arriving here with big preparation , '' Nadal told the official ATP Tour website . `` Without playing my best , I was able to find a solution . It 's true that I finished the match playing better than what I started , '' he added . Nadal is likely to have his work cut out in Saturday 's final at the Khalifa Tennis Complex , with France 's Gael Monfils his opponent . Monfils , something of a Doha specialist and twice a losing finalist , showed his quality with a straight sets 6-3 6-2 win over Florian Mayer of Germany in a little under an hour . He has twice beaten Nadal in the same tournament and showed enough against Mayer to suggest he could repeat the hat-trick . Federer is playing in Brisbane for the first time in his glittering career and treated the crowd on the Pat Pat Rafter Arena to a tennis master class against his Australian opponent . He was briefly troubled in the opening game , facing three break points then took firm control . The top seed will next play France 's Jeremy Chardy , who beat another Australian , wildcard Sam Groth , 7-5 6-4 . The second semifinal will be between second seed Kei Nishikori of Japan and home favorite Lleyton Hewitt . Nishikori ground out a three set win over Croatia 's Marin Cili , while Hewitt continued his fine run with a straight sets dismissal of Romanian qualifier Marius Copil , 6-4 , 6-2 .
Rafael Nadal into final against Gail Monfils at Qatar Open in Brisbane . Beats qualifier Roger Federer in three sets . Top-ranked Federer has never won the Qatar title . Gail Monfils makes semis in Qatar with easy vicotyr .