Basking in cheers following his latest victory, a weary but happy Novak Djokovic kissed his hand and patted the stadium court concrete in celebration of his return to the Miami Open final.

In sweltering sunshine Friday, Djokovic won a thrilling tiebreaker to beat David Goffin 7-6 (5), 6-4. The margin was so slim that a blown overhead by Goffin might have made all the difference.

Djokovic needs one more victory to match Andre Agassi's tournament record of six men's titles, which is why he showed his affection for this court.

"A little kiss for goodbye and see you in two days," Djokovic said. "I wanted to make the court feel my love. It's one of my favorite courts."

Djokovic's opponent Sunday will be the winner of the second semifinal between No. 6 seed Kei Nishikori and No. 24 Nick Kyrgios. Both are bidding for their first berth in an ATP Masters final.

Djokovic will be going for his 28th Masters title, which would break the record he shares with Rafael Nadal.

Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka plays 2006 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova on Saturday in the women's final.

Djokovic reached set point in the tiebreaker and worked hard to win it with a frantic, 16-shot exchange that typified the entertaining match. He dug shots out in both corners, chased down a pair of volleys and finally switched from defense to offense by flicking a lob too high for the 5-foot-11 Goffin to handle. That clinched the set, and as fans roared, the world's No. 1 player walked to his chair with his index finger aloft.

The tiebreaker turned four points earlier at 4-all. Goffin had an easy putaway overhead near the net and inexplicably hit it directly to a surprised Djokovic, who invented a shot in response by raising the racket strings in front of his face to patty-cake a deep lob. Goffin chased the ball down, and the rally continued until Djokovic tapped a drop volley for a winner.

"I was a bit fortunate in the tiebreaker," Djokovic said. "But I made him play always an extra shot."

Djokovic also earned points for sportsmanship. When Goffin challenged a call while returning a serve, Djokovic waved off the replay, indicating it wasn't needed because the linesman's ruling was correct.

"Really fair play," Goffin said before noting with a chuckle that Djokovic went on to win the point anyway.

Eager to avoid a third set on an 87-degree afternoon, Djokovic earned the only break of the second set to take a 4-3 lead and lost only one point in his final two service games.

"Physically, it was a great battle with a lot of exchanges from the baseline," Djokovic said. "We were both trying to catch our breath at some points."

Djokovic showed no signs of lingering issues from the back spasms that bothered him in the quarterfinals. He improved to 27-1 this year as he closed in on his fourth title of 2016.

On Key Biscayne, where he has won 15 consecutive matches, Djokovic is bidding for his third title in a row. He has reached the final of his past 11 Masters tournaments.

Source:
courtesy of ESPN

by Associated Press

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