A highly anticipated quarter-final clash on Wednesday at the Miami Open presented by Itau ended up being a dominant performance for fifth seed Rafael Nadal, who ended the inspired run of 13^th seed Jack Sock 6-2, 6-3.

“I think I was under control during the whole first set. In the second set, it was so important to save that game at 0-2, 15/40, and then get the break back in the next game,” said Nadal. “It was two positive things in two straight games that probably created a lot of damage to him.”

Seeking his first title in Miami after finishing runner-up here on four occasions, Nadal will now play Fabio Fognini for a place in Sunday’s final. He leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head with the Italian 7-3, but the pair has split their past six matches. Their previous encounter in Miami was a one-sided affair, with Nadal recording a swift 6-2, 6-2 win in their 2014 fourth-round clash.

“I know him very well and he knows me very well. We played a few times and he’s beaten me a couple of times, too. It’s a tough match,” said Nadal. “He’s playing well, so it will be a good challenge. I need to play my best, keep playing aggressively like I did today and hope to have my chances.”

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Nadal opened the match by immediately breaking Sock in the American’s first service game and racing to a 3-0 lead. Maintaining control of the baseline rallies, he continued to keep Sock off balance and grabbed a second break at 5-2 to take the opening set. 

But Sock refused to go away quietly. Hitting his forehand with great authority, he broke Nadal to start the second set. The 13th seed had game points to grab a double break at 2-0, but the Spaniard managed to hold serve and then quickly regained momentum. Nadal leveled the match at 2-2 and a double fault from Sock on break point two games later gave the fifth seed a commanding advantage. He closed out the match on serve at the first attempt to wrap up the victory in one hour and 23 minutes. Nadal improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Sock to 3-0.

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan remain in the hunt for a fifth Miami Open presented by Itau title following a dramatic 6-7(4), 6-4, 11-9 win over Croatians Marin Cilic and Nikola Mektic in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

The veteran brothers, who face countrymen Nicholas Monroe and Jack Sock in the semi-finals, can return to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings by lifting the trophy this weekend, otherwise Finland’s Henri Kontinen will claim top position.

Cilic/Mektic looked comfortable on serve to lead 5-2, however the Bryan Brothers managed to force a first-set tie-break. The Croatian duo combined well at the net to edge ahead, before Cilic’s retrieval skills earned a commanding set-and-a-break lead.

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A backhand return winner from Bob Bryan was the catalyst for an immediate break back for 3-3. Then leading at 5-4, Mike Bryan latched onto a difficult smash to secure the break and set on deciding point on Mektic’s serve. The Californian twins used their momentum to move 6/2 in front in the Match Tie-break, and despite Cilic/Mektic erasing that advantage, an ace from Mike Bryan found the line to confirm victory on their second match point.

Earlier on Wednesday Brian Baker and Daniel Nestor booked their semi-final spot with a 6-3, 5-7, 10-3 triumph over Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya. The American-Canadian duo will meet sixth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, who also clinched victory on a Match Tie-break with a fighting 2-6, 6-3, 10-8 win against fourth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares.