Novak Djokovic beats Sebastian Korda, advances to semifinals in push for 7th Miami Open title

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Novak Djokovic is finding a higher gear in South Florida after a sluggish start to 2025.

Djokovic, gunning for his seventh Miami Open title, dispatched American Sebastian Korda 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) Thursday in one hour, 24 minutes in a quarterfinal match that was postponed from Wednesday night because the women’s quarterfinal between Jessica Pegula and Emma Raducanu ran past 11 p.m. and would have begun at about midnight — against new ATP rules.

Djokovic advanced to Friday’s semifinals and will face Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov. Djokovic is 12-1 against the 33-year-old Dimitrov, who reached the tournament finals in 2024.

Djokovic, who won all six of his titles at the tournament’s previous venue at Key Biscayne, is going for his 100th professional title.

“I’m getting great support,” Djokovic said. “I feel I have a really good chance to go all the way here. ...I’m playing the best I have in some time.”

With the Hard Rock Stadium fans cheering the 37-year-old and chanting his name, Djokovic rallied in the second set from 4-1 and 5-2 down to win in a tiebreaker.

He served an ace on match point and finished with an 83 first-service percentage against the 24th-seeded Korda. The 37-year-old Serbian let out a yell after the victory and strummed his racket like a violin.

“One word — serve," Djokovic said when asked the key to his second-set surge. “I was serving very well — best serving performance in a long time.”

The men’s leader in Grand Slam titles at 24 has been out of form this year, starting with an injury retirement at the Australian Open in January. Earlier this month, Djokovic lost his first match at Indian Wells to Botic van de Zandschulp.

Saturday’s women’s final is set with No. 3 Jessica Pegula facing top seed Aryna Sabalenka. It is also a rematch of the 2024 U.S. Open final, won by Sabalenka.

In the women’s semifinal staged late Thursday, Pegula had to be spectacularly resilient to stop the history-making run of the 19-year-old lefty from the Philippines, Alexandra Eala.

Pegula won in a rollercoaster 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-3 victory in a contest that ended at 12:40 a.m. Friday.

In the two hour, 26 minute match, Eala showed she is a crafty lefty star in the making with drop shots, deft volleys and a big forehand.

The Hard Rock Stadium fans rooted on the player who had taken out major champions Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek previously.

Pegula fought off a set point in the first set. She was twice down a break in the first set forced a tiebreaker and dominated it.

Eala had played forcefully through most of the first set, moving Pegula around and coming to the net at advantageous times to showcase her volley.

But suddenly it turned. Eala served for the first set at 5-3, but at set point, she registered two straight double faults, then made an unforced error on her forehand. She lost eight straight points as Pegula seized control.

In the second set, Eala took a spill and needed a medical timeout to wrap her ankle, trailing 2-1.

Eala, who upset Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, roared back and got up a break 4-3. Pegula came back and Eala was two points away from losing the match at 5-4 before she hit another high gear to pull out the set.

Eala’s service speed had dropped to the 70’s in the second set — which seemed to frustrate Pegula.

In the first women’s semifinal, Sabalenka routed sixth-seeded Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2 in 71 minutes.

Paolini, the 2024 French Open finalist, spent some of the afternoon smirking at Sabalenka’s deft shot-making.

The Belarusian hasn’t dropped a set so far. “I think I was so focused and everything went smoothly,’’ Sabalenka said.

In the day’s first men’s quarterfinal, unseeded teenager Jakub Mensik beat 17th-seeded Arthur Fils 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. The 19-year-old Mensik advanced to his first semifinal at an ATP 1000-point level event.

The 54th-ranked Mensik, of the Czech Republic, will face on Friday third-seeded American Taylor Fritz, who squeaked out a three-set marathon Thursday night over No. 29 Matteo Berrettini 7-5, 6-7 (9-7), 7-5

Fritz squandered six match points in the second set against the Italian, including in the tiebreaker, but survived in the third set to make his first Miami Open finals. The match lasted two hours, 44 minutes. “Now I can sleep tonight and not worry about the chances I blew,’’ said Fritz, who lives in Miami. “You have two options – one of them is to regroup.’’

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Jessica Pegula hits a return to Alexandra Eala of the Philippines during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Alexandra Eala of the Philippines serves to Jessica Pegula during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Jessica Pegula hits a return to Alexandra Eala of the Philippines during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Matteo Berrettini of Italy reacts to a point against Taylor Fritz during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Matteo Berrettini of Italy hits a return to Taylor Fritz during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Taylor Fritz hits a return to Matteo Berrettini of Italy during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Taylor Fritz hits a return to Matteo Berrettini of Italy during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Sebastian Korda hits a return to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a return to Sebastian Korda during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Sebastian Korda hits a return to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Sebastian Korda hits a return to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after defeating Sebastian Korda during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia serves to Sebastian Korda during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Sebastian Korda serves to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Sebastian Korda, left, and Novak Djokovic of Serbia shake hands at the end of their quarterfinal match during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after defeating Sebastian Korda during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a return to Sebastian Korda during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Saudi warplanes have reportedly struck on Friday forces in southern Yemen backed by the United Arab Emirates, a separatist leader says.

This comes as a Saudi-led operation attempts to take over camps of the Southern Transitional Council, or STC, in the governorate of Haramout that borders Saudi Arabia.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE rose after the STC moved last month into Yemen’s governorates of Hadramout and Mahra and seized an oil-rich region. The move pushed out forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, a group aligned with the coalition in fighting the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.

Meanwhile, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen accused the head of the STC of blocking a Saudi mediation delegation from landing in the southern city of Aden.

The STC deputy and former Hamdrmout governor, Ahmed bin Breik, said in a statement that the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces advanced toward the camps, but the separatists refused to withdraw, apparently leading to the airstrikes.

Mohamed al-Nakib, spokesperson for the STC-backed Southern Shield Forces, also known as Dera Al-Janoub, said Saudi airstrikes caused fatalities, without providing details. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify that claim.

Al-Nakib also accused Saudi Arabia in a video on X of using “Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda militias” in a "large-scale attack " early Friday that he claimed sepratists were able to repel.

He likened the latest developments to Yemen’s 1994 civil war, “except that this time it is under the cover of Saudi aviation operations.”

Salem al-Khanbashi, the governor of Hadramout who was chosen Friday by Yemen's internationally recognized government to command the Saudi-led forces in the governorate, refuted STC claims, calling them “ridiculous” and showing intentions of escalation instead of a peaceful handover, according Okaz newspaper, which is aligned with the Saudi government.

Earlier on Friday, al-khanbashi called the current operation of retrieving seized areas “peaceful.”

“This operation is not a declaration of war and does not seek escalation,” al-Khanbashi said in a speech aired on state media. “This is a responsible pre-emptive measure to remove weapons and prevent chaos and the camps from being used to undermine the security in Hadramout,” he added.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen demands the withdrawal of STC forces from the two governorates as part of de-escalation efforts. The STC has so far refused to hand over its weapons and camps.

The coalition's spokesperson Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said Friday on X that Saudi-backed naval forces were deployed across the Arabian Sea to carry out inspections and combat smuggling.

In his post on X, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, said the kingdom had tried “all efforts with STC” for weeks "to stop the escalation" and to urge the separatists to leave Hadramout and Mahra, only to be faced with “continued intransigence and rejection from Aidarous al-Zubaidi," the STC head.

Al-Jaber said the latest development was not permitting the Saudi delegation's jet to land in Aden, despite having agreed on its arrival with some STC leaders to find a solution that serves “everyone and the public interest.”

Yemen’s transport ministry, aligned with STC, said Saudi Arabia imposed on Thursday requirements mandating that flights to and from Aden International Airport undergo inspection in Jeddah. The ministry expressed “shock” and denounced the decision. There was no confirmation from Saudi authorities.

ِA spokesperson with the transport ministry told the AP late Thursday that all flights from and to the UAE were suspended until Saudi Arabia reverses these reported measures.

Yemen has been engulfed in a civil war for more than a decade, with the Houthis controlling much of the northern regions, while a Saudi-UAE-backed coalition supports the internationally recognized government in the south. However, the UAE also helps the southern separatists who call for South Yemen to secede once again from Yemen. Those aligned with the council have increasingly flown the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990.

—

Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.

Southern Yemen soldiers of Southern Transitional Council (STC) at a check point, in Aden, Yemen, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo)