Novak Djokovic was in lockdown mode on Thursday at the Miami Open presented by Itau as he continued his chase for a record-breaking seventh title in south Florida and a 100th tour-level trophy.
The Serbian defeated Sebastian Korda 6-3, 7-6(4) in a quarter-final clash that was postponed from Wednesday. At 37 years and 10 months, Djokovic is the oldest ATP Masters 1000 semi-finalist in series history (since 1990), surpassing Roger Federer, who reached the last four in Indian Wells and Miami at 37 years and seven months in 2019.
Djokovic saw 12 of his 22 serves unreturned that set and finished the one-hour, 22-minute match having won 84 per cent of his first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
“As good as one can feel about his serve,” Djokovic said when reflecting on making 83 per cent of his first serves. “Unbelievable serving the whole tournament, I’ve been serving really well. Especially today and I needed it because Sebastian in the second set was just making me run and he was playing really well from the back of the court, maybe not making as many errors like in the first set.”
The Belgrade native now leads the 24-year-old Korda 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Their previous encounter came in the 2023 Adelaide final, during which Korda held championship point before Djokovic stormed back to a 6-7(8), 7-6(3), 6-4 victory.
At No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Djokovic improved to 48-7 at the hard-court event. Two wins shy of claiming a seventh trophy in Miami, and first since triumphing at Crandon Park in 2016, Djokovic is aiming to break his tie with Andre Agassi for most titles at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
Djokovic, into his eighth Miami semi-final and a record-extending 79th at Masters 1000 level, will next face 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov, whom he leads 12-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Djokovic is 20-1 in Miami after reaching the quarter-finals, with his lone loss coming to his current coach Andy Murray in the 2009 final.
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