Stan Wawrinka came back from one set down to overcome 21-year-old Japanese lucky-loser Yoshihito Nishioka 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4) and secured his spot in the quarter final of the BNP Paribas in Indian Wells for the third time in his career. Wawrinka will be looking to reach his first semifinal in the Californian desert where he reached the quarter finals twice in 2008 and 2011.
Wawrinka was under pressure at the start of the match when Nishioka broke serve in the fourth game, when Wawrinka sprayed his forehand long. It was the first time in this tournament that Wawrinka dropped his serve. The 2016 US Open champion broke straight back at deuce to draw level to 2-2. Nishioka broke twice in the seventh and ninth games to wrap up the first set 6-3. The Swiss hit 4 winners to 21 unforced errors in the first set.
Wawrinka fought back in the second round breaking twice in the third and ninth games of the second set to force the match to the decisive set. Nishioka went up an early break at the start of the decider with a forehand. Wawrinka broke back when Nishioka was serving for the match at 5-4. Nishioka broke again in the 11th game to earn a second chance to serve for the match but Wawrinka broke back for the second time to force the match to the tie-break. Wawrinka hit a forehand on his second match point in the tie-break to seal a hard-fought win.
“It was a hard match. He served twice for the match. He had a breaker in the third. I wasn’t playing great. I was not moving well at the beginning. I was a little bit hesitant with my game. I think in general in the third set I played better than the first two sets. In general I was finding a little bit better my game. I was playing a little bit more aggressive. I was more calm, making more long rallies. I am really happy to get through for sure. You have to be a little bit lucky when he served twice for the match, but I am happy to fight well enough to give me a chance to play tomorrow night”, said Wawrinka.
In the quarter final Wawrinka will face Dominic Thiem, who broke three times to beat Gael Monfils 6-3 6-2. Thiem won their previous two matches in three sets.
Thiem got his first break in the fourth game as Monfils dropped five consecutive points from 40-0 on his serve after three forehand errors. Thiem saved two break points in the ninth game as he was serving for the set to seal the first set 6-3. Thiem broke twice in the first and third games to seal the second set 6-2.
Wawrinka leads 2-1 in his three head-to-head matches against Thiem. They will meet for the first time in almost two years. Thiem will be bidding to reach his first Masters 1000 semifinal.
