Djokovic downs Korda to reach Miami Open semi-finals

Novak Djokovic put on a serving clinic to beat Sebastian Korda in straight sets at the 2025 Miami Open on Friday morning (AEDT), making the 37-year-old tennis superstar the oldest ATP Masters 1000 semi-finalist in history.

A $1.22 favourite at BetOnline pre-match, Djokovic was in control against No.24 seed Korda for all but a brief period of the one-hour, 22-minute clash.

Both began solidly on serve, with five straightforward holds to get proceedings underway at Hard Rock Stadium.

Djokovic then threatened in the sixth game — pushing Korda to deuce — before going on a run of 12 points in a row from the start of the seventh to close out the set 6-3.

However, the Serb went off the boil early in the second set, falling behind 0-3 and 0-30 as Korda began dominating the baseline exchanges.

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Djokovic rediscovered his level just in time, though, breaking back to send the second set to a tiebreaker, where he won 7-4 through some more excellent serving.

“Overall, I expected a big challenge because I saw him play, he’s really talented,” he said after the match.

“He plays close to the line and takes a lot of time away from his opponents, so I’m really glad how I managed to finish it in the end.”

Now a firm favourite at top bookmakers to win his 100th title in Miami this weekend, Djokovic credited his serve for the victory.

“Unbelievable,” he said after landing 83% of first serves and winning 84% of serves.

“The whole tournament, I’ve been serving really well, especially today.

“I needed it, because I think Sebastian in the second set was just making me run.

“He was playing really well from the back of the court, maybe not making as many errors like in the first set.

“It took some serves to get out of trouble.

“I was 3-0, 0-30 down, had some good serves, put myself in a position to try to rebreak, which I did.

“Tiebreak could have been anybody’s game, but again, my serve got me out of trouble.

“I’ll take that as a highlight of the match.”

Next up for Djokovic is a semi-final clash with Grigor Dimitrov, against whom he owns a 12-1 head-to-head advantage with his only loss against the Bulgarian coming 12 years ago.

As a result, tennis betting apps have Djokovic priced as a $1.20 favourite to advance to the Miami Open final.

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