Djokovic beats Korda in Miami, becomes oldest Masters semi-finalist in history
The Serbian put on a serving clinic in the first set and then came back from 5-2 down in the second
Julien Noutet / Tennis Majors
Serb Novak Djokovic, the No 4 seed, beat American Sebastian Korda, the No 24 seed, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to advance to the last four of the Miami Masters at the Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday.
In doing so he became the oldest Masters 1000 semi-finalist in history at 37 years and 10 months old, surpassing the record previously set by Roger Federer. Friday’s semi-final appearance will be his eighth in Miami and 79th overall at the Masters level, drawing him just two match wins away from a 100th career title.
Djokovic timed his runs in each set perfectly to win in straight sets against Korda, raising his level to break and win the first set, before coming from behind to win the second in a tiebreak.
“Overall, I expected a big challenge because I saw him play, he’s really talented,” he said. “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.”
Djokovic clinical for all but 15 minutes
It was a clinical display from the Serbian in the opening set.
Both men held serve easily in the first five games, before Djokovic applied pressure in Korda’s third service game, pushing the American to deuce in a foreshadowing of what was to come.
From 0-15 on his own serve in the seventh game, Djokovic went on a tear of 12 straight points in a row: holding, breaking, then serving the set out to love.
With Korda hitting unforced errors, losing the majority of baseline rallies, it seemed that this was on track to be a quick kill for Djokovic.
That is, until Korda went on a run of his own, winning 14 of the first 16 points in the second set. Out of seemingly nowhere, the No 24 seed found his range, began holding easily and winning baseline rallies. Suddenly, it was Djokovic making errors and looking out of breath at the other end.
Behind 3-0, 0-30, Djokovic dug his heels in to hold for 3-1 just in time.
He would still find himself behind 5-2 and staring down the barrel of a deciding set. However, an easy hold for the 37-year-old led to Djokovic making his move in the ninth game. At 5-3 – and with Korda having only lost two points on serve so far in the second set – Djokovic played an excellent return game, pressuring Korda with deep returns and once again extracting errors.
With the break secured, the rest of the set felt like a formality. Korda did manage to eek out another hold and force a tiebreak, but with Djokovic serving the way he was, the result was never in question.
Djokovic puts on serving clinic against Korda
The 24-time Grand Slam champion’s serve was a key component of his victory on Thursday, landing 83 percent of first serves and winning 84 percent of points behind it – often at crucial moments.
After the match, Djokovic declared that he was feeling, “as good as one can feel about their serve”.
“Unbelievable,” he said. “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, you know, put myself in a position to try to re-break, which I did. Tiebreak could have been anybody’s game, but I think again, serve got me out of trouble: 5-4, serve winner, 6-4, ace to finish the match. I’ll take that as a highlight of the match.”
Djokovic, ranked No 5, will play Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the No 14 seed, next.
The 37-year-old Serb won against Australian Rinky Hijikata (6-0, 7-6 (1)), Argentinian lucky loser Camilo Ugo Carabelli (6-1, 7-6 (1)) and Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the No 15 seed (6-2, 6-2) in the previous rounds of the Miami Open.
Earlier in the tournament, Korda, ranked No 25, won against wildcard Eliot Spizzirri (6-4, 6-2), Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 9 seed (7-6 (4), 6-3) and Frenchman Gael Monfils (6-4, 2-6, 6-4).
Miami Masters 1000, other quarter-finals results (Hard Rock Stadium, hard, USD 9.193.540, most recent results first):
- Taylor Fritz vs. Matteo Berrettini
- Jakub Mensik beat Arthur Fils (17): 7-6 (5), 6-1
- Grigor Dimitrov beat Francisco Cerundolo (23): 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3)
