By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday, March 27, 2025
The 19-year-old sensation Jakub Mensik has dominated the serve competition at this year’s Miami Open. His remarkable performance continued on Thursday as he unleashed an impressive 13 aces, winning nearly all of his first-serve points, leading to a decisive victory over 20-year-old Arthur Fils with a score of 7-6(5), 6-1.
“It feels absolutely incredible. This is the most significant achievement of my career thus far, and I’m thrilled to have maintained my focus since round one,” Mensik expressed on court following his triumph. “The key is to stay concentrated through the two-week tournament because it’s always challenging… the job isn’t finished yet.”
Ranked 54th, Mensik has reached his first-ever Masters 1000 semifinal, making him the fifth-youngest player to reach the final four in Miami’s rich history.
Reflecting on his impressive serving skills, Mensik noted, “When I transitioned from juniors to the professional circuit, we put in a lot of work focusing on my serve and follow-up shots. We emphasized this playing style heavily at the beginning of my professional journey. It’s a lot of hard work and practice, but now I feel very confident during matches—my serve is definitely my greatest weapon.”
Legendary Novak Djokovic praised Mensik’s serving prowess after facing him in Shanghai last year, stating, “I can see why he is regarded as one of the best servers in the game. At just 19, the future looks incredibly bright for him. He knows I’m here to help him, whatever he may need.”
Mensik had to dig deep to secure his win, battling through a challenging opening set against the player who had eliminated top-seeded Alexander Zverev just a day prior. Despite getting pushed back from a commanding 4-1 lead, he clinched the set in a tiebreak and showed resilience by serving big under pressure at 5-5, 15-40.
As the first Czech to reach the Miami semifinals since Tomas Berdych in 2015, Mensik is set to face either Matteo Berrettini or Taylor Fritz in the semifinals this Friday.
