Novak Djokovic beats Sebastian Korda in two sets in the last eight. The Serb only has to tremble briefly. Now he is in line for a special title.
Record-breaking Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic is just two victories away from his 100th ATP Tour tournament victory.
In the Miami Masters quarterfinals, the 37-year-old Serb defeated Sebastian Korda of the United States 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) to reach the last four for the first time since withdrawing in the Australian Open semi-finals against Alexander Zverev.
The fourth-seeded Djokovic will face 33-year-old Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (No. 14) in the semi-finals.
After the early elimination of various top players like Zverev, the path for Djokovic to the milestone title is not too rocky.
The only player still in the running is US Open finalist Taylor Fritz (USA/No. 3), who will play against Italian Matteo Berretini for a place in the semi-finals.
Djokovic focused – Korda’s nerves were shaking
Djokovic, whose last of six Miami titles dates back nine years, played very focused against Korda at first.
In the second set, however, he had to survive tricky moments when he was already trailing 2-5 – but as so often, the highly talented Korda’s nerves faltered.
Korda was unable to repeat his father’s success: Petr Korda, who played for the Czech Republic, reached the semi-finals of the tournament, which was still held in Key Biscayne at the time, in 1993 – losing narrowly to Pete Sampras there.
Since the introduction of the ATP Tour in 1990, only Djokovic’s former rival Roger Federer has won 100 or more tournaments. The retired Swiss has 103 titles.
