Novak Djokovic defeats Sebastian Korda to reach the semifinals in his quest for a 7th Miami Open title

Novak Djokovic is starting to play better in South Florida after a slow beginning to 2025.

Djokovic, aiming for his seventh Miami Open title, defeated American Sebastian Korda 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) on Thursday in a quarterfinal match that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

The match was moved from Wednesday night because the women’s quarterfinal between Jessica Pegula and Emma Raducanu ran late, ending after 11 p.m. and starting around midnight, which would have violated new ATP rules.

Djokovic advanced to the semifinals and will play against Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov on Friday. Djokovic has a 12-1 record against the 33-year-old Dimitrov, who reached the final of the tournament in 2024.

Djokovic, who has won all six of his titles at the previous Miami Open venue in Key Biscayne, is aiming for his 100th career title.

“I’m getting great support,” Djokovic said. “I feel I have a really good chance to go all the way here. …I’m playing the best I have in some time.”

With the fans at Hard Rock Stadium cheering for the 37-year-old, Djokovic came back in the second set from 4-1 and 5-2 down to win in a tiebreaker.

He served an ace on match point and had an 83% first-service percentage against Korda, who is seeded 24th. After the victory, Djokovic let out a yell and played his racket like a violin.

“One word — serve,” Djokovic said when asked about his performance in the second set. “I was serving very well — best serving performance in a long time.”

The 37-year-old, who holds the record for most Grand Slam titles at 24, has been struggling with his form this year, starting with an injury that forced him to retire at the Australian Open in January. Earlier this month, he lost his first match at Indian Wells to Botic van de Zandschulp.

The women’s final will be set for Saturday with No. 3 Jessica Pegula facing top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka. This is a rematch of the 2024 U.S. Open final, which Sabalenka won.

In the women’s semifinal held late Thursday, Pegula showed great resilience to stop the 19-year-old lefty from the Philippines, Alexandra Eala, who had been making history in the tournament.

Pegula won 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-3 in a match that ended at 12:40 a.m. Friday. Eala demonstrated her skills with drop shots, clever volleys, and a powerful forehand.

The Hard Rock Stadium fans cheered for Eala, who had already beaten major champions Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and Iga Swiatek.

Pegula fought off a set point in the first set, coming back from being down a break twice to force a tiebreaker, which she dominated.

Eala had played aggressively in the first set, moving Pegula around and attacking the net at the right times to show off her volley. But Eala’s game suddenly faltered. She served for the first set at 5-3, but at set point, she hit two straight double faults and made an unforced error with her forehand. She lost eight straight points as Pegula took control.

In the second set, Eala hurt her ankle and needed medical treatment while trailing 2-1. However, Eala, who had upset Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, fought back and managed to break Pegula at 4-3. Pegula then came back, but Eala was two points away from losing at 5-4 before finding her form and winning the set.

Eala’s serve speed dropped to the 70’s in the second set, which seemed to frustrate Pegula.

In the first women’s semifinal, Sabalenka easily beat sixth-seeded Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2 in just 71 minutes.

Paolini, who was a finalist at the 2024 French Open, sometimes smiled at Sabalenka’s impressive shot-making.

Sabalenka hasn’t lost a set yet in the tournament. “I think I was so focused and everything went smoothly,” she said.

In the first men’s quarterfinal of the day, unseeded teenager Jakub Mensik beat 17th-seeded Arthur Fils 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. The 19-year-old Mensik, from the Czech Republic, advanced to his first semifinal at an ATP 1000-point event.

Mensik, ranked 54th, will play third-seeded American Taylor Fritz on Friday. Fritz won his match against No. 29 Matteo Berrettini 7-5, 6-7 (9-7), 7-5 in a three-set battle that lasted two hours and 44 minutes.

Fritz wasted six match points in the second set, including in the tiebreaker, but he survived in the third set to make his first Miami Open final. “Now I can sleep tonight and not worry about the chances I blew,” said Fritz, who lives in Miami. “You have two options – one of them is to regroup.”