Stan Wawrinka survived a gripping contest with Dominic Thiem on Thursday night at the BNP Paribas Open, beating the Austrian 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(2) to reach the semifinals at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

“The level was really high tonight. I’m really happy with the way I was playing, the way I found a way to win it,” said Wawrinka. “He’s a strong player, really tough to play. I think in general we both played at a high level, and the match came down to only one or two points. In the third-set tie-break, I served really well. I was really focused on not giving him anything.”

The third-seeded Swiss will face Pablo Carreno Busta, who earlier saved two match points to edge Pablo Cuevas. Wawrinka leads the No. 23-ranked Carreno Busta 2-0 in their head-to-head.

The 31-year-old Wawrinka notched the 450th win of his career as he battled past Thiem in two hours and 31 minutes. The Swiss player is bidding to win his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown, adding to his 2014 Monte-Carlo trophy (d. Federer).

“I think it’s a little bit of experience, a little bit of confidence, a little bit of thinking about what you want to do and then just do it without thinking if you’re gonna miss or not. In those moments, you need to trust your game and that’s what I did well,” said Wawrinka. “I could have lost the match, for sure. But in general, I try to stay with my game plan and not give away anything. I also know that’s when I play good tennis and I can beat anybody. So that gives me a lot of confidence.”

In his fourth meeting with Thiem, the right-hander rallied from the loss of his serve in the opening game of the match to break Thiem in the second and 10th games to seal the first set. Thiem hit back, though, breaking Wawrinka in the third game of the second set to level the match.

Thiem looked to carry his momentum into the third set, but was denied two break points as Wawrinka held from 15/40 in the first game, before then breaking his 23-year-old opponent to take charge at 3-0 in the decider. Thiem responded, finding the lines as he reeled off the next three games, but the Austrian was left to rue missing a break point chance at 30/40 on Wawrinka’s serve in the ninth game.

Thiem saved match point at 30/40 in the 12th game as Wawrinka netted a forehand, but in the ensuing tie-break, the Swiss was tidier from the baseline and reaped the rewards.

Wawrinka had battled back from the brink in the third round, as Yoshihito Nishioka served for the match twice before the Lausanne native prevailed. He is through to the semifinals in Indian Wells for the first time, on his first tournament appearance in the United States since winning the US Open in September (d. Djokovic). 

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Klaasen/Ram Through To Doubles Final

Sixth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram reached their second final of the season as they defeated Gilles Muller and Sam Querrey 6-2, 6-4. Klaasen and Ram captured their fourth ATP World Tour team title last month in Delray Beach (d. Huey/Mirnyi). They also have the unique distinction of scoring back-to-back wins in their previous two matches over Rafael Nadal (w/Tomic) and Novak Djokovic (w/Troicki).

The second semi-final will be decided on Friday when fourth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares take on eighth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo.

• No. 4 seed Kei Nishikori and No. 17 seed Jack Sock will meet in Friday’s second quarter-final. Nishikori, who defeated Donald Young on Wednesday, has dominated Americans in recent years. The World No. 5 is 29-3 against Americans since the start of the 2013 season, including a 4-0 run at the BNP Paribas Open. Nishikori has split two FedEx ATP Head 2 Head meetings with Sock. He is seeking his first semi-final in Indian Wells.

• Sock is appearing in his third consecutive ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final after finishing the 2016 season strongly at Shanghai and Paris. The No. 1 American is bidding for the biggest singles win of his career after losing his first seven matches against Top 5 opponents. Sock is 14-2 in 2017, highlighted by his second and third singles titles respectively at Auckland and Delray Beach.

• Neither Roger Federer nor Nick Kyrgios have been broken at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open. Federer and Kyrgios will put their serves to the test when they meet in Friday’s quarter-finals. Their only other match-up was decided in three tiebreakers. Federer saved five match points and Kyrgios saved two before the Aussie emerged with a second-round win at the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open.

• Federer routed long-time rival Rafael Nadal to reach the Indian Wells quarter-finals for the 11th time, including each of his last six appearances. The four-time champion is 8-1 in quarter-finals at the BNP Paribas Open, advancing via walkover in 2008 and losing to Nadal in 2013. Federer is appearing in his 75th ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final overall and bidding for his 57th semi-final.

• Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic were selected in the same quarter of an ATP World Tour draw for the first time. The 21-year-old Kyrgios could emerge from that quarter after earning his second win over Djokovic in as many weeks. Kyrgios is attempting to become the first player since Andy Murray at the 2012 London Olympics to defeat Djokovic and Federer in back-to-back rounds.

• If Kyrgios wins, the 2017 BNP Paribas Open will be the first ATP Masters 1000 event since 2012 Paris not to feature Federer, Murray, Djokovic or Nadal in the semi-finals. At least one member of the Big Four has played in the semis of 36 straight ATP Masters 1000s and 71 of the last 72. David Ferrer, Jerzy Janowicz, Gilles Simon and Michael Llodra were the 2012 Paris semi-finalists.

• Eighteen of the Top 25 singles players in the Emirates ATP Rankings were in the Indian Wells doubles draw. None reached the semi-finals, which conclude on Friday with No. 4 seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares meeting No. 8 seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. Murray and Melo were each No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings before Nicolas Mahut passed them.

Watch your favourite players work on their games by taking in a live stream at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

After a hard-fought win over Novak Djokovic and a doubles match shortly after, Nick Kyrgios needed a snack break on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open.

The Aussie grabbed a quick bite of chips from an unsuspecting fan during his quarter-final doubles match with Nenad Zimonjic against sixth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. Luckily, the fan wasn’t territorial about his food and was happy to let Kyrgios help himself.

Not being able to resist the smell of fries like…? @NickKyrgios #BNPPO17 pic.twitter.com/xDMzsL67zF

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 16, 2017

Unfortunately, the extra fuel wasn’t enough to stop Kubot/Melo from advancing 6-1, 6-3. Kyrgios will hope for better luck (and adequate time to eat beforehand) when he plays Roger Federer in quarter-final action on Friday.

• Top 10 players and Top 2 Pablos will battle in the BNP Paribas Open quarter-finals on Thursday when No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka meets No. 8 seed Dominic Thiem and No. 21 seed Pablo Carreno Busta faces No. 27 seed Pablo Cuevas. Three of the four boast one-handed backhands (Wawrinka, Thiem and Cuevas) and all four are bidding for their first Indian Wells semi-final.

• Wawrinka rallied Wednesday after lucky loser Yoshihito Nishioka served for their fourth-round match twice. The top-ranked Swiss owns a 2-1 FedEx ATP Head 2 Head record against Thiem. He is 0-2 in Indian Wells quarter-finals, falling to Novak Djokovic in 2008 and Roger Federer in 2011. Wawrinka has reached as many ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals as Grand Slam finals (three).

• Thiem has not played Wawrinka since breaking into the Top 35 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on May 25, 2015. The Rio de Janeiro champion is already appearing in his eighth tournament of the season, spanning six countries, four continents and three surfaces. Thiem is 17-6 in 2017, tied with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Grigor Dimitrov for the most wins on the ATP World Tour this season.

• Carreno Busta, who lost to Thiem in the Rio de Janeiro final, has played even more tennis than the Austrian this season (14-6 singles, 12-4 doubles). The 25-year-old is No. 23 in singles and No. 19 in doubles — good for the second-highest combined ranking on tour behind Jack Sock (18s, 17d). Carreno Busta reached the quarter-finals following a bye, a walkover and two wins over qualifiers.

• Cuevas defeated Carreno Busta en route to the Sao Paulo title, which he won on Monday, March 6 at 7:36 pm local time following multiple rain delays. The Uruguayan started the year 1-4, including a first-round loss to World No. 138 Arthur De Greef as defending champion at Rio de Janeiro. Cuevas is 7-0 since then, including his fourth-round win over De Greef’s countryman David Goffin.

• Carreno Busta and Cuevas share more than a name. They captured the Rio de Janeiro doubles title on February 25 after saving a match point against Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in the semis. Thursday’s match is the biggest singles quarter-final of their respective careers. Carreno Busta and Cuevas are both appearing in their first ATP Masters 1000 or Grand Slam quarter-final.

• Fifteen of the Top 20 singles players in the Emirates ATP Rankings were in the BNP Paribas Open doubles draw. None reached the semi-finals, which begin on Thursday with No. 6 seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram against Gilles Muller and Sam Querrey. Klaasen and Ram, the Delray Beach champions, eliminated Rafael Nadal in the second round and Djokovic in the quarter-finals.

Watch your favourite players work on their games by taking in a live stream at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.