It is the first semi -final appearance for Djokovic in this tournament since 2016, with Carlos Alcaraz, Jack Durber and Daniel Medvedev among a group of the 10 best external seeds, clouds were opened in front of the Serbian to add another Miami title.
Djokovic took the opening group efficiently on Thursday, and broke his opponent's service in the eighth match.
But the 24-time Grand Slam champion had to dig a second in a second, as some impressive work allowed recovery from 5-2 to bottom to force a draw and win.
Djokovic said: “The best performance is to me so far,” Djokovic said. “You were very tense because you never know what comes from Korda – it's very aggressive and talented.
“I was on my back feet, waiting for his mistake instead of spelling from the back of the court. When you need a first service, I got it but a tense match and great performance.”
Earlier on Thursday, Czech Jacob Menke defeated the 17th Arthur Fils 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 to reserve a semi-final against either Italian seeds 29 Matthew Bertini or American Taylor Fritz.
