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)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans voted to dismiss a war powers resolution Wednesday that would have limited President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela after two GOP senators reversed course on supporting the legislation.

Trump put intense pressure on five Republican senators who joined with Democrats to advance the resolution last week and ultimately prevailed in heading off passage of the legislation. Two of the Republicans — Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana — flipped under the pressure.

Vice President JD Vance had to break the 50-50 deadlock in the Senate on a Republican motion to dismiss the bill.

The outcome of the high-profile vote demonstrated how Trump still has command over much of the Republican conference, yet the razor-thin vote tally also showed the growing concern on Capitol Hill over the president’s aggressive foreign policy ambitions.

Democrats forced the debate after U.S. troops captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid earlier this month

“Here we have one of the most successful attacks ever and they find a way to be against it. It’s pretty amazing. And it’s a shame,” Trump said at a speech in Michigan Tuesday. He also hurled insults at several of the Republicans who advanced the legislation, calling Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky a “stone cold loser” and Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine “disasters.” Those three Republicans stuck to their support for the legislation.

Trump’s latest comments followed earlier phone calls with the senators, which they described as terse. The president’s fury underscored how the war powers vote had taken on new political significance as Trump also threatens military action to accomplish his goal of possessing Greenland.

The legislation, even if it had cleared the Senate, had virtually no chance of becoming law because it would eventually need to be signed by Trump himself. But it represented both a test of GOP loyalty to the president and a marker for how much leeway the Republican-controlled Senate is willing to give Trump to use the military abroad. Republican angst over his recent foreign policy moves — especially threats of using military force to seize Greenland from a NATO ally — is still running high in Congress.

Hawley, who helped advance the war powers resolution last week, said Trump’s message during a phone call was that the legislation “really ties my hands.” The senator said he had a follow-up phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio Monday and was told “point blank, we’re not going to do ground troops.”

The senator added that he also received assurances that the Trump administration will follow constitutional requirements if it becomes necessary to deploy troops again to the South American country.

“We’re getting along very well with Venezuela,” Trump told reporters at a ceremony for the signing of an unrelated bill Wednesday.

As senators went to the floor for the vote Wednesday evening, Young also told reporters he was no longer in support. He said that he had extensive conversations with Rubio and received assurances that the secretary of state will appear at a public hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Young also shared a letter from Rubio that stated the president will “seek congressional authorization in advance (circumstances permitting)” if he engaged in “major military operations” in Venezuela.

The senators also said his efforts were also instrumental in pushing the administration to release Wednesday a 22-page Justice Department memo laying out the legal justification for the snatch-and-grab operation against Maduro.

That memo, which was heavily redacted, indicates that the administration, for now, has no plans to ramp up military operations in Venezuela.

“We were assured that there is no contingency plan to engage in any substantial and sustained operation that would amount to a constitutional war,” according to the memo signed by Assistant Attorney General Elliot Gaiser.

Trump has used a series of legal arguments for his campaign against Maduro.

As he built up a naval force in the Caribbean and destroyed vessels that were allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, the Trump administration tapped wartime powers under the global war on terror by designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations.

The administration has claimed the capture of Maduro himself was actually a law enforcement operation, essentially to extradite the Venezuelan president to stand trial for charges in the U.S. that were filed in 2020.

Paul criticized the administration for first describing its military build-up in Caribbean as a counternarcotics operation but now floating Venezuela’s vast oil reserves as a reason for maintaining pressure.

"The bait and switch has already happened,” he said.

Lawmakers, including a significant number of Republicans, have been alarmed by Trump’s recent foreign policy talk. In recent weeks, he has pledged that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela for years to come, threatened military action to take possession of Greenland and told Iranians protesting their government that “ help is on its way.”

Senior Republicans have tried to massage the relationship between Trump and Denmark, a NATO ally that holds Greenland as a semi-autonomous territory. But Danish officials emerged from a meeting with Vance and Rubio Wednesday saying a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains.

"What happened tonight is a roadmap to another endless war," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said at a news conference following the vote.

More than half of U.S. adults believe President Donald Trump has “gone too far” in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

House Democrats have also filed a similar war powers resolution and can force a vote on it as soon as next week.

Last week's procedural vote on the war powers resolution was supposed to set up hours of debate and a vote on final passage. But Republican leaders began searching for a way to defuse the conflict between their members and Trump as well as move on quickly to other business.

Once Hawley and Young changed their support for the bill, Republicans were able to successfully challenge whether it was appropriate when the Trump administration has said U.S. troops are not currently deployed in Venezuela.

“We’re not currently conducting military operations there,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune in a floor speech. “But Democrats are taking up this bill because their anti-Trump hysteria knows no bounds.”

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who has brought a series of war powers resolutions this year, accused Republicans of burying a debate about the merits of an ongoing campaign of attacks and threats against Venezuela.

"If this cause and if this legal basis were so righteous, the administration and its supporters would not be afraid to have this debate before the public and the United States Senate," he said in a floor speech.

Associated Press writers Josh Goodman, Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick and Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., talks with reporters outside the Senate chamber during a vote at the Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks with reporters at the Senate Subway on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)