37-year-old Serb Novak Djokovic is finally starting to look himself again. The legendary Serb just hasn’t looked at his best since a muscle tear forced him to withdrew from his Aussie Open semifinal clash with Alex Zverev.
2025 ATP Tour
Masters 1000
Miami Open
Miami Gardens, Miami, Florida (Outdoor Hardcourts)
Selected Quarterfinals- 27th March
Novak Djokovic (4) 0.25 vs Seb Korda (24) 2.8
In fact, the Serb came into this year’s Miami Masters on a three-match losing streak! When was the last time that happened? He has looked far more at ease this fortnight, dropping just 17 games in three straight-sets wins. He was particularly impressive in his round of 16 victory over Lorenzo Musetti, hitting 18 winners to 17 unforced errors and winning 91% of his trips to the forecourt. He was typically brilliant on return, winning 49% of his 1st serve return points. A six-time winner of this event, Djokovic is actually making his first appearance here since 2019. Also, it’s worth noting that all those victories came before the event moved to Miami Gardens. He appears to be moving well and is a red-hot favourite to progress to yet another Masters semifinal.
Seb Korda avenged his recent Indian Wells defeat to Gael Monfils, overcoming the Frenchman in an epic, rain-affected round of 16 clash. The match was interrupted by a washout and would feature further delays (the floodlights were turned on while Korda needed a medical timeout to attend to a wrist issue). Korda eventually overcame the evergreen Frenchman, creating a very niche bit of history in the process. With that win, Korda became the youngest American since Andy Roddick to reach multiple Miami quarterfinals (he reached the final eight here back in 2021). Korda’s match with Monfils was extremely disjointed and both players committed a smorgasbord of errors. Korda still served fairly well, winning an impressive 80% of his first-serve points. He is going to need that weapon to work should he stand any chance against all-time great Djokovic.
The Verdict: Djokovic to win in straight sets at 0.75- Djokovic leads the head-to-head 1-0, taking down Korda in three sets at the 2023 Adelaide Invitational (where Korda actually squandered a match-point). I can’t see Korda providing much resistance here. His wrist issues flared up in the latter stages of that Monfils clash and Djokovic is just looking stronger and stronger.
