Wawrinka overcomes Thiem to reach BNP Paribas Open semis
Stan Wawrinka battled into the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals with a hard-fought win over Dominic Thiem on Thursday.
The Swiss third seed survived yet another test at Indian Wells, edging Thiem 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-2).
It marked a second consecutive round in which Wawrinka has been pushed to a third-set tie-break, having overcome Yoshihito Nishioka in the last 16.
Thiem, the world number nine, had his chances in the third set, but also had to come from a break down to force a tie-break.
Wawrinka won five straight points from 2-2 in the tie-break, having been denied by the Austrian in the 12th game.
Stan THE Man@stanwawrinka comes out on top in another 3-set thriller, defeating No.8 seed Thiem 6-4 4-6 7-6(2) to reach the #BNPPO17 SFs. pic.twitter.com/pP46AhEQEr
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 17, 2017
It marked a third straight win for Wawrinka over Thiem, who had claimed victory in their first meeting.
CARRENO BUSTA CONTINUES RUN
Wawrinka’s semi-final opponent is Pablo Carreno Busta, who battled to a 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-4) win over Pablo Cuevas.
The Spaniard saved two match points to advance to a maiden ATP 1000 semi-final.
Bust-ing into the SFs!
Carreno Busta saves 2MPs vs. Cuevas to win 6-1 3-6 7-6(4) and advances to first ever Masters 1000 semi #BNPPO17 pic.twitter.com/pnn2KL8AVI
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 16, 2017
Wawrinka has won both of his previous matches against Carreno Busta, although they were on clay.
