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An ATP first: Semifinals hit with two walkovers on a rough day at Sony Open

A pair of semifinal withdrawals means Novak Djokovic will once again lock horns with Rafael Nadal. (Lynne Sladky/AP) Spare a thought for the ticket-toting
Courtney Nguyen|
An ATP first: Semifinals hit with two walkovers on a rough day at Sony Open
An ATP first: Semifinals hit with two walkovers on a rough day at Sony Open

A pair of semifinal withdrawals means Novak Djokovic will once again lock horns with Rafael Nadal. (Lynne Sladky/AP)

Spare a thought for the ticket-toting fans at the Sony Open on Friday. The tournament was hit with an unprecedented pair of withdrawals in the men's semifinals, which gave No. 1 Rafael Nadal and No. 2 Novak Djokovic walkovers into Sunday's final.

The day began with news that Kei Nishikori, on the heels of two top-five wins over Roger Federer and David Ferrer, was forced to withdraw from his semifinal against Djokovic with a left groin injury. The news stung even more given Nishikori's fantastic effort to oust Federer in the quarterfinals, coming back from a set and break down to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal since the 2011 Shanghai Masters. It also recalled the long-running joke about "The Federer Curse":

As fans waited for the second semifinal of the day to begin between Nadal and No. 7 Tomas Berdych, the ATP announced Berdych was also ruled out due to gastroenteritis, marking the first time in ATP history that both semifinals resulted in walkovers at a tour-level event. Boos rang out at Crandon Park when the second withdrawal announcement was made and ESPN scrambled to fill air time with extended interviews with Nadal and Djokovic.

While all that was happening, Twitter exploded with shock, frustration, and humor. Read a collection of some of the best tweets below:

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Courtney Nguyen
COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.

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