Jack Sock and Roger Federer will face each other in the semi-final at Indian Wells, after the 17th seed upset Kei Nishikori in their quarter-final match on Friday evening. The American won the match 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in 108 minutes.
The match featured five breaks of serve. Sock took the lead against his opponent, serving out the opening set in the ninth game after securing a break in the eighth. The second set, however, went entirely the Japanese’s way as Sock lost his serve in the eighth game of the set to give Nishikori a firm footing in the match. The final service break in the match came in the first game of the deciding set on the fourth seed’s serve and in the end, it was enough to get Sock through to his first-ever semi-final in an ATP Masters tournament.
Likewise, the win was also Sock’s first over a player ranked inside the top-five of the ATP ranking and when he takes on Federer, Sock will attempt to overturn a 0-2 head-to-head deficit.
The Swiss had an easier finish into the semi-final, after his opponent, 15th seeded Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the tournament with food poisoning. The four-time former Indian Wells champion later came out on the court to address the gathered fans.
Men’s Doubles’ final showdown set
Eighth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo defeated the fourth seeded team of Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in their men’s doubles semi-final on Friday. Kubot and Melo won 3-6, 7-5, 10-5, and will play the sixth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram in the final.
Klaasen and Ram had defeated the unseeded team of Gilles Muller and Sam Querrey in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 in their semi-final that was played on Thursday.
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