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Nadal staved off four break points to avoid going down a
double-break early in the second set, a pivotal game that set
the stage for his 6-2 6-3 victory on the Crandon Park hardcourt.
Nadal's poise and shotmaking came to the fore when 13th seed
Sock threatened to take a stranglehold on the second set.
“That was the key of the second set, two-love (down), 15-40,”
Nadal said in a court side interview. “With three-zero a player
like Jack, you’ll probably be thinking third set.
“It was a double positive thing. I saved that game and got the
break back (in the next game). The match was much closer than
the result says.”
Nadal could face his long-time nemesis Federer in the final,
with the Swiss, who has a Thursday quarter-final against Tomas
Berdych, on the other side of the draw.
Federer and Nadal have met twice this year, with Federer winning
both times, in a memorable five-set final at the Australian Open
and in a one-sided straight-sets fourth-round thumping at Indian
Wells two weeks ago.
But Nadal is not looking ahead to Federer, because his
semi-final opponent Fognini presents a potential banana skin.
Nadal has a 7-3 career record but is mindful he lost to the
Italian in a five-set thriller on the U.S. Open hardcourt in
2015.
"It’s like a dream maybe,” said the 29-year-old Fognini after
becoming the first unseeded player in 10 years to make the Miami
semis.
“This is a big, big tournament for me. I’m happy about my
performance. I’m just trying to be focused on my game and do my
best.”
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by
Greg Stutchbury/Peter Rutherford)
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