Jakub Mensik vs. Taylor Fritz: Where to Watch, Miami Open Preview

Where to Watch

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The winner of this match will play either Novak Djokovic or Grigor Dimitrov in the Miami Open final.

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Miami Open Match Preview

Fritz and Mensik have played once, in the third round at the 2023 US Open, and the American won in a rout, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0.

Fritz is probably the favorite again, considering that he’s ranked fourth and Mensik is 54th. But this should be a different match, because the Czech is a different player now.

Their last meeting took place on his 18th birthday, when he was in the earliest stages of his pro career. While he’s still a teenager, Mensik has grown as a player in every way. His serve is among the game’s best now, he has a brutal serve-forehand combination, and his confidence that he can compete with anyone at the pro level has grown. While he has watched guys like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have meteorite rises in their teens, Mensik seems happy to take his career a step at a time.

“Everything is happening for a reason, and it’s all the time the right time,” he says of his progress, sounding like a young Zen master. “Never is too late; never is too early.”

What happened this week is that Mensik has made his first Masters 1000 semifinal. A win over the fourth-ranked Fritz would be another major leap upward. Is he ready for that? His biggest advantage may be his relative freshness: He won his quarterfinal in straight sets on Thursday afternoon, while Fritz won a two hour and 45 minute thriller over Matteo Berrettini in the evening. That’s not an ideal turnaround.

Otherwise, though, Fritz would seem to have the edge for a few reasons.

First, he says he’s feeling healthier than he has in a couple of months, which has helped him swing more freely.

“I feel like I can play full out, my body can keep up with my tennis,” Fritz says. “I’ve been excited to be back on the court healthy.”

Second, after a series of poor results, he’s motivated to win in his last hard-court event for nearly four months.

“The fire is really there, this week, after just being really frustrated in a lot of tournaments recently,” he says.

Third, Fritz lives in Miami now, and he gets to sleep in his own bed.

“It’s nice to be driving my own car, sleeping in my own bed,” he says. “We’ve done well in the past when I’ve had these kind of conditions.”

Most important, Fritz has a more polished all-around game than Mensik does at this stage of their careers. Mensik may have the bigger serve and more overall power, but Fritz returned pretty well against Berrettini, he’s a sneaky-good defender, and he has the superior backhand. Mensik may have another gear that he hasn’t shown yet; if not, this one should go to Fritz. Winner: Fritz—Steve Tignor

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