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LONDON -- The contest between Jack Sock and Alexander Zverev was always going to be a tight one -- with the winner qualifying for the semifinals, and the loser being omitted from the tournament-- but what a gripping challenge it turned out to be with Sock eventually crunching a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 victory. Play was fast and fiery from the opening point with both players on the attack. A poignant break from Sock in the seventh game looked hopeful for the young American, but Zverev countered by holding his own serve, too. A shot up into the rafters from Alexander gave Sock set point, a composed slice forehand and he takes the first set 6-4. In his press conference, Sock said: "I'm going out there and kind of letting loose, having fun, trying to put on a show a little bit, just enjoy my time." But, of course, it would be naïve to write off the fiery young German too early. He broke Sock's first service game of the second set and attacked early with huge serves and fast, intimidating net play. A shot through the legs by Sock in the fourth game -- be it laziness or his 'showtime' alter ego it isn't quite clear -- either way it looked as though Sock was losing his focus and fell quickly to 4-0 down in the second. Before surrendering the second set 6-1. The games were tight in the third set with cracking forehands kissing the tramlines and cutting cross-court angles. A code of conduct point deduction for Sock for belting a ball up into the crowd and it looked as though the young American had lost his head. However, Alexander allowed him another look in by conceding an abysmal service game to take things back to 1-1 in the third with all still to play for.  Sock, though, wasn't relinquishing his grip on the third easily, by the fifth game we'd seen a healthy serving of running-jump smashes, pelting aces and unreturnable winners. But still, the tables were turning and Zverev started to narrow the gap and it wasn't long before Sock's three game lead had disappeared to nothing and the pair were fighting it off at 4-4, 1 set all. When asked if he thought his opponent "choked" at the end, Sock said: "You never know. It could be the expectations for him, as well. Obviously with the tennis he's played, not only this year, but the start of his career, he could go out there and expect himself to play a certain way." It could have gone either way, even the last rally of the match was a fraught, drop shot fuelled fight. But eventually Sock managed to charge to a 6-4 victory and claim his place into the semifinals where he faces Grigor Dimitrov. It was quite a different story when Roger Federer stepped out onto court to face Marin Cilic -- he had already secured his semifinal spot, which might account for his lacklustre performance throughout his 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1 victory. The World No.2 looked too uncharacteristically agitated on court to suggest he was competing for a perfect Round Robin performance, but it seems the heightened expectations were taking their toll. "I was telling myself try to relax a little bit, there's so much pressure on every match in the season because if you lose you go home," Federer said in his on-court interview after the game. "This one wasn't the case, you are able to play a bit more freely and I think I was able to do that mid-way through the second set. I had to remind myself I'm through regardless but of course I want to do well and keep the momentum going."  The first set went with serve all the way through to 6-6, but the seven-time champion never really looked to have turned on the gas; throwing away easy points with careless backhands into the net and then dropping in a few casual aces to keep the scoreline ticking along. The crowd were behind the Swiss player the whole way; a chorus of 'let's go Roger let's go' fired up in the tiebreak when Cilic inched to a 4-1 lead. And again 'come on Roger!' on set point to Cilic. But to no avail; Cilic won the tiebreak and claimed the first set 7-6 (5) and it looked like Federer was in trouble. The Swiss player charged into the second set with three consecutive aces, and it looked like a sign of things to come, but play continued to go with serve until Federer finally managed to break Cilic to take the second set 6-4 -- met by an audible sigh of relief from the crowd. By now, Roger looked to have relaxed into the game and closed in on a quick deciding set in just 26 minutes. "I'm very happy I found a way out of it," Federer said after the match. "At the end I played really well so I'm really happy to be playing this level right now." This will be Roger's fourteenth semifinal in fifteen appearances at the tournament and, on Saturday, he will play either David Goffin or Dominic Thiem from the Pete Sampras group.
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