Stan Wawrinka [3] vs. Pablo Carreño Busta [21]
Don’t look now, but Stan is having another one of his refuse-to-lose runs. This is his first trip to the semifinals at Indian Wells in 10 tries, and he’s done it in style, with back-to-back third-set tiebreaker victories over Yoshihito Nishioka and Dominic Thiem. But Carreño Busta, who looks to be putting together a breakout season at age 25, has been just as persistent. The Spaniard upset David Goffin in three sets, then outlasted his fellow Pablo, Cuevas, in a third-set tiebreaker. The slow hard courts at Indian Wells, which reports say are even slower than usual this year, have obviously helped Carreño Busta, and so has the confidence he gained from a run to the final in Rio last month. But Wawrinka, the 2015 French Open champion, likes slow courts, too; he’s played Carreño Busta twice, both times on clay, and both times he’s been too strong for him. Winner: Wawrinka
