By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday March 27, 2025
19-year-old Jakub Mensik has been the very best serve at this 12 months’s Miami Open, and the pattern continued on Thursday as he fired 13 aces and gained all however 5 of his first-serve factors in a 7-6(5), 6-1 win over 20-year-old Arthur Fils.
“It feels unimaginable. I believe the largest end result to date in my profession, so I’m glad I simply saved going because the first spherical,” stated Mensik on court docket after his win. “That’s the important thing, to maintain the main target in the course of the two weeks, as a result of it’s all the time powerful… The job will not be achieved.”
54th-ranked Mensik reaches his maiden Masters 1000 semifinal and turns into the fifth youngest participant to succeed in the ultimate 4 in Miami along with his win.
After I got here from juniors to the skilled stage, we did numerous work, simply serve plus one launch and every thing, like workouts,” Mensik stated on Thursday when requested about his serving prowess. “Wo we have been focusing quite a bit on this recreation type at first of my skilled profession. “In fact it is exhausting work and numerous serves… proper now, after all, in the course of the match I really feel fairly assured, and it is my large, large weapon.”
Novak Djokovic had excessive reward for Mensik’s supply after he confronted him final 12 months in Shanghai.
“I might see at the moment why he is likely one of the finest servers we’ve got within the recreation,” the Grand Slam king stated. “He’s solely 19, the long run could be very shiny for him. He is aware of that I’m all the time there for him, no matter he wants.”
Mensik needed to work to get by means of a troublesome opening set in opposition to the person that eradicated top-seeed Alexander Zverev on Wednesday. Pegged again from a 4-1 lead he bought the job down in a tiebreak. He was additionally serving at 5-5 15-40 however managed to hammer down some large serves to flee the difficulty.
Mensik, the primary Czech to succeed in the Miami semis since Tomas Berdych in 2015, will face both Matteo Berrettini or Taylor Fritz within the semifinals on Friday.
