Twice Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova and 14th seed Elena Vesnina posted hard-fought, straight-set wins in Friday's semifinals to set up an all-Russian final in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Kuznetsova played exceptional defense and used her strong serve and a varied groundstroke attack to edge third seed Karolina Pliskova 7-6(5), 7-6(2) in a tense showdown following Vesnina's 6-3, 6-4 win over Kristina Mladenovic. The 31-year-old eighth seed Kuznetsova rose to the occasion in the tiebreakers, storming out to a 6-2 lead in each. Nerves struck in the first-set decider as she netted two backhands and produced an embarrassing double fault that made it 6-5 before rifling a forehand passing winner to end it. There were no dramas after taking the big tiebreak lead in the second set and she raced along the baseline for another retrieval that induced a wide forehand from the disgusted Czech, who flung down her racket as Kuznetsova rejoiced. Vesnina, a three-times grand slam doubles champion, reached her first Premier Mandatory final with victory in the California desert over 28th seed Mladenovic. Driving winners off both wings, Vesnina raced to big leads in each set, then held off the battling Mladenovic. Meanwhile, Jack Sock celebrated a pair of firsts Friday by powering past fourth seed Kei Nishikori 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 to book a date with Roger Federer in the semifinals. Relying on his big serve and blistering forehand, the 17th-seeded American finally reached a Masters 1000 semifinal in his 28th appearance and notched his first ever victory against a top-five opponent in eight attempts. "I've given everybody their money's worth, a three-setter every match so far," the 24-year-old Sock said in an on-court interview. "I feel like I'm playing some great tennis right now." Sock's stock has been soaring this year, claiming tournament titles last month at the Delray Beach Open in Florida and at the Auckland Classic in January. Eighteen-time Grand Slam winner Federer advanced to the semifinals without lifting a racket as suspected food poisoning forced Australian Nick Kyrgios to withdraw from their much-anticipated quarterfinal. Sock has lost his two previous matches against Federer, including a 6-3, 6-2 decision at Indian Wells in 2015. "The last time I played him here I didn't really go out on court thinking I had much of a chance," said Sock. "He's playing some good tennis, I'm playing some good tennis, so I'm really looking forward to a battle." — Reuters
