MIAMI GARDENS, March 29, 2025, Florida: Novak Djokovic is hitting top form in South Florida after a slow start to 2025.
Chasing his seventh Miami Open title, Djokovic defeated American Sebastian Korda 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in one hour, 24 minutes on Thursday in a quarterfinal match delayed from Wednesday due to a late women’s quarterfinal between Jessica Pegula and Emma Raducanu, which ran past 11 p.m., conflicting with new ATP regulations.
Djokovic advanced to Friday’s semifinals, where he will face Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov. The Serbian holds a dominant 12-1 record over Dimitrov, who was a finalist in the 2024 tournament.
Aiming for his 100th professional title, Djokovic is enjoying strong crowd support. “I feel I have a really good chance to go all the way here. ... I’m playing the best I have in some time,” he said.
Despite trailing 4-1 and 5-2 in the second set, the 37-year-old rallied to win in a tiebreaker, sealing the match with an ace and boasting an 83% first-serve success rate. After victory, he celebrated by shouting and mimicking a violin with his racket.
When asked about his second-set comeback, Djokovic responded, “One word — serve. I was serving very well — best serving performance in a long time.”
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has struggled this year, starting with an injury retirement at the Australian Open and a first-round loss at Indian Wells to Botic van de Zandschulp.
Korda, son of Grand Slam champion Petr Korda, had earlier upset Stefanos Tsitsipas and looked strong while leading 4-1 in the second set before Djokovic regained control.
In the first women’s semifinal, top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka dominated No. 6 seed Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2 in just 71 minutes, securing a spot in her first Miami Open final.
Paolini, a 2024 French Open finalist, could only admire Sabalenka’s shot-making, at one point remarking, “What a day.”
Sabalenka, from Belarus, was clinical, converting four of five break points while striking 31 winners with just 12 unforced errors.
Despite Paolini’s late push in the second set, closing to 4-2 with a double-break chance at 15-40, Sabalenka responded with three open-court winners and an ace to close the game.
Paolini, enjoying her best Miami Open run, couldn’t match Sabalenka’s dominance, as the Belarusian remains unbeaten in sets.
“I was so focused, and everything went smoothly,” Sabalenka said.
Sabalena will face the winner of Thursday night’s semifinal between Jessica Pegula and Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.
When asked if she would watch the match or go out in Miami, where she resides, Sabalenka joked, “I usually go for dinner, but other than that, it’s always tennis on my TV. I’m actually enjoying watching tennis lately. That’s crazy. I’m getting old.”
In the day’s first men’s quarterfinal, unseeded teenager Jakub Mensik defeated 17th-seeded Arthur Fils 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, advancing to his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal.
The 19-year-old Czech won a tight first-set tiebreak before dominating the second set, racing to a 4-0 lead to eliminate the 20-year-old Frenchman. Ranked 54th, Mensik fired 13 aces and sealed victory with a crosscourt forehand winner in just 75 minutes.
Mensik will face the winner of Thursday night’s quarterfinal between Taylor Fritz and Matteo Berrettini.