INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The Swiss trains ran ahead of schedule on Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open as Stan Wawrinka overwhelmed Pablo Carreño Busta, 6-3, 6-2, in the first men’s semifinal and Roger Federer defeated Jack Sock, 6-1, 7-6 (4), in the next.
But then the tennis balls were also flying faster than usual through the dry desert heat in Indian Wells. Even while camped well behind the baseline, Wawrinka was able to muscle huge groundstrokes past Carreño, his whippet of a Spanish opponent. And for all Sock’s muscle, Federer often deprived him of the time to unleash it.