One 37-year-old legend watched another in the Miami Masters semi-final. The Inter Miami star Lionel Messi hit the Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday and watched the Miami Open semi-final duel between Novak Djokovic and Grigor Dimitrov with his family.
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Lionel watched Novak from the stands for the first time, and he witnesseda high-level performance from the 24-time Major winner. Djokovic defeated his great friend Dimitrov 6-2, 6-3 in an hour and 10 minutes, booking a place in his eighth title match in Miami.
Messi has been playing in Miami for a couple of years, but this was his first chance to see Djokovic in action. The Serb is competing at the season's second Masters 1000 event for the first time since 2019, and he has beaten four rivals in straight sets to reach the title clash.
Novak lost serve in the first game of the duel before leaving Grigor behind on serve and return. The Serb barely missed the first serve and provided eight comfortable holds after an early setback. Dimitrov could not follow that pace.
The Bulgarian lost half of the points in his games and gave serve away four times from six chances presented to his opponent. Djokovic tamed his strokes nicely and landed ten winners and five unforced errors. He welcomed Grigor's 32 unforced errors, mostly from a forehand wing.
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Djokovic forged a 15-10 lead in service winners, and Dimitrov erased it at the net. However, the more experienced player ruled the baseline and created a 34-14 buffer that made the difference. The six-time winner had the upper hand in the shortest and more advanced rallies,bringing the victory home in style.
The 37-year-old missed a backhand in the first game of the duel and experienced a break at 15. Djokovic kept his composure and pulled the break back at love in the second game, erasing the deficit and firing a forehand winner at 1-1 to move in front.
The six-time Miami Open champion attacked with his backhand in the fifth game and held at love for a 3-2 lead. Dimitrov played a wild forehand in the sixth game, losing serve and falling 4-2 behind. Novak clinched the next one with an unreturned serve and moved 5-2 up.
Djokovic attacked on the return in the eighth game and drew the rival's mistake for a set point. Grigor missed a volley, losing serve for the third time and propelling his good friend 6-2 in front after 32 minutes. Novak served well in the second set and provided five comfortable holds.
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The Bulgarian sprayed a forehand error in the second game and faced two break points. He netted another forehand to drop serve and a find himself a set and a break behind. The six-time winner cemented the break in game three following another forehand error from the other side.
Dimitrov held at love in the fourth game with a behind-the-back volley winner and ended his downfall. However, Djokovic delivered another fine hold and moved 4-1 up after a forced error. The legend grabbed the seventh game after Grigor's wayward forehand for a 5-2 advantage.
Grigor served to stay in the match in game eight and netted a backhand to face a matchpoint. He denied it with a service winner and held for 3-5. Novakserved for the win in game nine and landed powerful serves at 30-30 to seal the deal in front of the football legend.
