Returning to the Miami Open for the first time since 2019, Novak Djokovic had his hands full today.

Wearing ice mitts on changeovers to help lower his body temperature, Djokovic took the gloves off when Sebastian Korda served for the second set.

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An ultra-cool Djokovic froze Korda out of this Miami Open quarterfinal, 6-3, 7-6(4) advancing to his record-extending 79th ATP Masters 1000 semifinal.



It’s a milestone moment for the 37-year-old Serbian superstar, who is the oldest semifinalist in tournament history and showed no signs of advancing age making his move today.

Six-time champion Djokovic rallied from a 1-4 second-set deficit and broke Korda when the American served at 5-3 to force a decider.

On match point, Djokovic drilled his 11th ace to close with a superlative serving performance.

In perhaps his best serving performance of the season, Djokovic served 84 percent, won 41 of 49 first-serve points and faced only one break point to reach his first semifinal since the Australian Open in January.

“I’ve been serving great the entire tournament particularly today,” Djokovic told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj. “I needed it. I kind of backed up a little bit and gave him the opportunity to step in and break my serve [in the second set].

“ I think it was a really good serving performance from both players… A couple of points decided the winner. Korda is such a talented player. He plays close to the line, takes time away from the opponent. You don’t know what’s coming next. It puts you a little bit on your back foot.”

It’s the eighth Miami Open for Djokovic, who is now 8-0 in Miami quarterfinals.

The fourth-seeded Djokovic now stands two wins away from breaking the record he shares with Hall of Famer and former coaching consultant Andre Agassi and seizing a seventh Miami crown.

Continuing his quest for a historic 100th career championship, Djokovic will face old friend Grigor Dimitrov for a spot in Sunday’s final. Djokovic is 12-1 lifetime vs. Dimitrov, including an immaculate 8-0 mark in their hard-court clashes.

Yesterday, a gritty Dimitrov overcame fatigue and Francisco Cerundolo 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3) in a bruising battle that spanned nearly three hours and left the 14th-seeded Dimitrov so depleted he had to be helped off court in a wheelchair.

"I sw the match yesterday: incredible fight from both players almost three hours, grueling fight," Djokovic said. "[Dimitrov] saved match points he deserves that.

"He works as hard as anybody and I get along very well with Grigor, he's a good friend. Obviously, tomorrow on the court we both want to win. We've played so many times versus each other in all the tournaments, all the surfaces. He's such an experienced player and obviously in form finals lat year, semis again now this year so I gotta be ready for the toughest match so far."  



This Djokovic-Korda quarterfinal was originally scheduled for last night, but was pushed back to today as the entire Wednesday schedule, including Jessica Pegula’s quarterfinal conquest of Emma Raducanu that ended after 11 p.m. local time.

Twenty-five minutes into the match, Djokovic made his move.

The six-time champion drew a series of errors for triple break point. When Korda sprayed a forehand, Djokovic snatched the love break for a 5-3 lead.

Whipping an ace wide earned Djokovic triple set point. Displacing Korda with the wide serve, Djokovic spun a forehand winner sealing the set with his third shutout game.

The 24th-seeded Korda’s game dipped at the wrong time and Djokovic exploited it. Djokovic served 78 percent and won 17 of 18 first-serve points in a set that saw him run through 11 consecutive points to close it.

Slashing successive forehand strikes down the line, Korda sealed a love hold to open a 4-1 second-set lead after 49 minutes of play.

Though Korda served for the second set at 5-3, Djokovic hit a head-snapping backhand winner down the line then drew a couple of forehand misses from the American to break back for 4-5.

The Korda forehand down the line let him down a couple of times at crunch time today. Djokovic saw it and wisely went to work on that wing when he needed a big point.

Sliding the wide serve, Djokovic hit a forehand winner closing a love hold for 5-all.

In the breaker, a couple of wild Korda forehands helped Djokovic take a 5-2 lead.



Spinning a serve winner, Djokovic earned match point.

Fan were chanting “Nole! Nole! Nole!”. Djokovic answered the call cracking that match-ending ace out wide to close in style.