Miami Open 2025 Day 9 Recap - Perfect Tennis

Day 9 at the 2025 Miami Open delivered a mix of veteran savvy and youthful ambition, as Novak Djokovic locked down Sebastian Korda 6-3, 7-6(4) to become the oldest Miami Masters semi-finalist in history, while Taylor Fritz battled past Matteo Berrettini 7-5, 6-7(7), 7-5 in a nail-biter.

Jakub Mensik stole the show, powering past Arthur Fils 7-6(5), 6-1 to become the first Czech man in a Miami semi-final since 2015, marking his maiden Masters 1000 semi-final at just 19.

With the final four set, Djokovic will face Grigor Dimitrov, and Fritz will take on Mensik on Friday. Stats, highlights, and a recap are below.

Day Nine 2025 Miami Open Quarter Final Results

Winner
Loser
Scoreline

Jakub Menik
Arthur Fils (17)
7-6(5) 6-1

Taylor Fritz (3)
Matteo Berrettini (29)
7-5 6-7(7) 7-5

Novak Djokovic (4)
Sebastian Korda (24)
6-3 7-6(4)

Djokovic Figures out Korda

Novak Djokovic is back in the Miami Open semi-finals after he took out Sebastian Korda 6-3, 7-6(4) in a quarter-final clash postponed from Wednesday.

Djoker is chasing a record seventh Miami title, and based on his form this week and the draw opening up, it’s hard to bet against that happening.

The Serb has had a great serving week, a shot he’s continually tweaked over the years, and in the first set he dropped just 1 point behind it.

Korda, who has struggled in recent months due to several injuries, has a very smooth game. He found his rhythm in the second set, racing to a 3-0 lead and later serving for the set at 5-3.

However, Djokovic turned the set around, engaging in longer rallies in his typical lockdown mode, and forcing errors from the 24-year-old American.

Korda came within two points of the set 6-5 on return but didn’t get a look at a break point. The tiebreak was a coin toss, but Djokovic’s serve again bailed him out; a serve winner at 5/4 and an ace at 6/4 sealed his victory in 1 hour and 22 minutes.

I thought Korda played decently, and he can play Djokovic well as we saw in Adelaide a couple of years back, but Novak looks like he’s on a mission this week and has got some confidence back in his groundstrokes.

Next up: 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov, Djokovic leads 12-1 in their H2H and benefits from Grigor looking like he was running on fumes in his quarter-final match.

As good as one can feel about his serve. Unbelievable serving the whole tournament, I’ve been serving really well. Especially today and I needed it because Sebastian in the second set was just making me run and 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 0-3, 0/30 down, had some good serves and put myself in a position to [break back], which I did. Tie-break could have been anybody’s game, but serve got me out of trouble again. 5/4, serve winner. 6/4, ace to finish the match. I’ll take that as a highlight from the match today. Djokovic on his win over Korda.

Match Stats

Sebastian Korda
Novak Djokovic

Winners
19
19

Unforced Errors
20
18

Aces
7
12

Double Faults
0
0

1st Serve %
66% (37/56)
85% (50/59)

1st Serve Points Won
70% (26/37)
84% (42/50)

2nd Serve Points Won
68% (13/19)
60% (6/10)

Break Points Saved
0% (0/2)
0% (0/1)

Service Games
80% (8/10)
91% (10/11)

1st Return Points Won
16% (8/50)
30% (11/37)

2nd Return Points Won
40% (4/10)
32% (6/19)

Break Points Won
100% (1/1)
100% (2/2)

Return Games
9% (1/11)
20% (2/10)

Service Points
70% (39/56)
80% (47/59)

Return Points
20% (12/59)
30% (17/56)

Net Points
80% (4/5)
80% (4/5)

Total Points
44% (51/115)
56% (64/115)

Match Points Saved
0
0

Max Points In A Row
8
12

Return Games
9% (1/11)
20% (2/10)

Total Games
43% (9/21)
57% (12/21)

Max Games In A Row
3
3

Highlights

Fritz Fights Past Berrettini

Taylor Fritz battled to a 7-5, 6-7(7), 7-5 victory over Matteo Berrettini in a two-hour, 44-minute quarter-final to reach his first Miami semi-final.

Fritz missed a raft of opportunities in the second set after seeing 6 match points pass him by, but he remained composed and got the job done.

Fritz looked poised for a straight-sets win, leading 6/3 in the second-set tiebreak. But Berrettini, who experienced missing several match points of his own in his win over Alex de Minaur, refused to fold.

On one match point, Fritz missed a backhand return by mere centimeters; on another, Berrettini leaned in and crushed a return off a 110 mph serve.

The decider was a test of nerve. Neither player dropped serve until 5-5, but on his third break point of the set, Fritz pounced on a second serve to capture a key break before holding from 15-30 to book his spot in tomorrow’s semi-final.

It was tough. I kept trying to tell myself that he played well and it’s not as much on me, so try not to get frustrated. I think my best looks there I had three match points seeing a second serve from him. I think I really have to win one of those. I can’t be too frustrated with the 6/5 point, I honestly hit a really, really good serve and he full-commit leaned there. If I would’ve gone 110 mph wide, I probably would’ve aced him. He committed hard for the return and he crushed it. I got to give it to him, he raised his level a lot. There’s two options. Get frustrated, lose, and then be even more frustrated about all the chances I blew, or regroup and get the win. Now I can sleep tonight and not be so mad at the chances I blew. I feel like that’s how I’ve always returned his serve. I feel like he’s got such a big serve anyways, it’s pretty tough to take a full swing and hit it, even when you stand back. That also gives him time to run around and find the forehand. I’ve always liked to stand in, look to chip those forehands and hopefully it gets on him quickly, especially when I get a hold of a backhand, I feel like I can really crush it. Fritz on his win.

Match Stats

Taylor Fritz
Matteo Berrettini

Winners
38
41

Unforced Errors
25
35

Aces
16
17

Double Faults
3
0

1st Serve %
76% (78/102)
78% (96/123)

1st Serve Points Won
79% (62/78)
75% (72/96)

2nd Serve Points Won
63% (15/24)
37% (10/27)

Break Points Saved
80% (4/5)
73% (8/11)

Service Games
94% (17/18)
83% (15/18)

1st Return Points Won
25% (24/96)
21% (16/78)

2nd Return Points Won
63% (17/27)
38% (9/24)

Break Points Won
27% (3/11)
20% (1/5)

Return Games
17% (3/18)
6% (1/18)

Service Points
75% (77/102)
67% (82/123)

Return Points
33% (41/123)
25% (25/102)

Net Points
69% (9/13)
64% (7/11)

Total Points
52% (118/225)
48% (107/225)

Match Points Saved
0
6

Max Points In A Row
6
7

Total Games
56% (20/36)
44% (16/36)

Max Games In A Row
3
3

Highlights

Mensik Makes First Masters Semi-Final

Despite being the highest-ranked teenager on tour, Jakub Mensik has been flying under the radar with players like Fonseca receiving all the plaudits.

While the latter is probably en route to Europe for the clay swing, the 19-year-old Czech is into the Miami semi-finals after defeating Arthur Fils 7-6(5), 6-1 in a 75-minute beatdown.

Fils could count himself somewhat lucky to be in the last eight after Tiafoe somehow lost the third set despite Fils barely moving, and then Zverev’s powder puff forehand came to the fore in their fourth round clash.

However, those three setters appeared to have drained him, and he was unable to summon the heavy top-spin shot-making he is capable of.

By contrast, Mensik was razor-sharp, striking 26 winners, including 13 aces, to dominate the Frenchman. The first set tested Mensik’s nerves. He let a 4-1 lead slip and faced 15/40 at 5-5 on his serve, but the Czech steadied himself, winning six of the final eight points in the tiebreak to seize control.

From there, he was unstoppable, racing through the second set with a barrage of winners and unreturnable serves, as Fils wilted.

It feels incredible. I think the biggest result so far in my career, so I’m glad I just kept going since the first round. That’s the key, to keep the focus during the two weeks, because it’s always tough… The job is not done. Before every season I set my goals that I want to reach during the season. I have an incredible team. All of them are doing a great job, which is the key always. After great weeks, after worse weeks, we still are working so hard, and it’s paying off. Mensik on his win.