Novak Djokovic beats Sebastian
Korda, advances to semifinals in push for 7th Miami Open title
[March 28, 2025]
By MARC BERMAN
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Novak Djokovic is finding a higher gear
in South Florida after a sluggish start to 2025.
Djokovic, gunning for his seventh Miami Open title, dispatched
American Sebastian Korda 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) Thursday in one hour, 24
minutes in a quarterfinal match that was postponed from Wednesday
night because the women’s quarterfinal between Jessica Pegula and
Emma Raducanu ran past 11 p.m. and would have begun at about
midnight — against new ATP rules.
Djokovic advanced to Friday’s semifinals and will face Bulgaria’s
Grigor Dimitrov. Djokovic is 12-1 against the 33-year-old Dimitrov,
who reached the tournament finals in 2024.
Djokovic, who won all six of his titles at the tournament’s previous
venue at Key Biscayne, is going for his 100th professional 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 Hard Rock Stadium fans cheering the 37-year-old and
chanting his name, Djokovic rallied in the second set from 4-1 and
5-2 down to win in a tiebreaker.
He served an ace on match point and finished with an 83
first-service percentage against the 24th-seeded Korda. The
37-year-old Serbian let out a yell after the victory and strummed
his racket like a violin.
“One word — serve," Djokovic said when asked the key to his
second-set surge. “I was serving very well — best serving
performance in a long time.”
The men’s leader in Grand Slam titles at 24 has been out of form
this year, starting with an injury retirement at the Australian Open
in January. Earlier this month, Djokovic lost his first match at
Indian Wells to Botic van de Zandschulp.
Saturday’s women’s final is set with No. 3 Jessica Pegula facing top
seed Aryna Sabalenka. It is also a rematch of the 2024 U.S. Open
final, won by Sabalenka.
In the women’s semifinal staged late Thursday, Pegula had to be
spectacularly resilient to stop the history-making run of the
19-year-old lefty from the Philippines, Alexandra Eala.
Pegula won in a rollercoaster 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-3 victory in a
contest that ended at 12:40 a.m. Friday.
In the two hour, 26 minute match, Eala showed she is a crafty lefty
star in the making with drop shots, deft volleys and a big forehand.
The Hard Rock Stadium fans rooted on the player who had taken out
major champions Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek
previously.
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Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a return to Sebastian Korda during the
Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami
Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Pegula fought off a set point in the first set. She
was twice down a break in the first set forced a tiebreaker and
dominated it.
Eala had played forcefully through most of the first set, moving
Pegula around and coming to the net at advantageous times to
showcase her volley.
But suddenly it turned. Eala served for the first set at 5-3, but at
set point, she registered two straight double faults, then made an
unforced error on her forehand. She lost eight straight points as
Pegula seized control.
In the second set, Eala took a spill and needed a medical timeout to
wrap her ankle, trailing 2-1.
Eala, who upset Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, roared back and
got up a break 4-3. Pegula came back and Eala was two points away
from losing the match at 5-4 before she hit another high gear to
pull out the set.
Eala’s service speed had dropped to the 70’s in the second set —
which seemed to frustrate Pegula.
In the first women’s semifinal, Sabalenka routed sixth-seeded
Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2 in 71 minutes.
Paolini, the 2024 French Open finalist, spent some of the afternoon
smirking at Sabalenka’s deft shot-making.
The Belarusian hasn’t dropped a set so far. “I think I was so
focused and everything went smoothly,’’ Sabalenka said.
In the day’s first men’s quarterfinal, unseeded teenager Jakub
Mensik beat 17th-seeded Arthur Fils 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. The 19-year-old
Mensik advanced to his first semifinal at an ATP 1000-point level
event.
The 54th-ranked Mensik, of the Czech Republic, will face on Friday
third-seeded American Taylor Fritz, who squeaked out a three-set
marathon Thursday night over No. 29 Matteo Berrettini 7-5, 6-7
(9-7), 7-5
Fritz squandered six match points in the second set against the
Italian, including in the tiebreaker, but survived in the third set
to make his first Miami Open finals. The match lasted two hours, 44
minutes. “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.’’
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