Roger Federer dispatches Jack Sock to set up all-Swiss final at Indian Wells

The next time Roger Federer faces Jack Sock – and surely they will play each other in many prestigious tournaments in the coming years – their match might be suspenseful. Federer, the 18-time grand slam champion, might lose a service game or even a set to Sock, the 24-year-old from Nebraska whose results are beginning to justify the hype that for years has positioned him as the next great hope in American men’s tennis.

Someday, Federer and Sock will fight long and hard in front of fans whose withheld breath becomes a unique noise. And one of those days, Federer might bow his head in tribute to a triumphant Sock.

Saturday wasn’t that day.

Federer needed only 21 minutes to break Sock’s serve twice and win the first set of their semi-final Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open. Although Sock regained his composure and got to deuce on one of Federer’s service games in the second set – no one has broken Federer’s serve here – the outcome was inevitable. Federer’s 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) victory at Stadium 1 launched him into Sunday’s final against Swiss countryman Stan Wawrinka, a familiar foe.

“Roger, we all know him, so nothing to say,” a smiling Wawrinka said after he defeated Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, 6-3, 6-2, in Saturday’s first semi-final.