By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday March 29, 2025
Jakub Mensik fired 25 aces in his three-set win over Taylor Fritz to change into the third youngest participant to succeed in a Miami Open males’s singles remaining. The vanquished American had nothing however reward for the enhancements that the Czech teen has made for the reason that pair final met on the US Open in 2023.
“He is actually good,” Fritz mentioned after the 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(4) loss. “I performed him on his 18th birthday on the Open. Clearly he is improved rather a lot since then. I feel he is improved naturally, like virtually every part in his recreation has improved. If you’re younger like that, you are simply going to get higher.”
Fritz had a whole lot of hassle making inroads towards Mensik’s serve. He broke as soon as within the center set however that was all he may handle towards the teenager.
“The serve is a large enchancment,” Fritz mentioned. “I performed him on the US Open in ’23. He had a giant serve, however he did not place it that properly. I used to be capable of simply be on his serve on a regular basis. It was large, however he did not hit the spots.”
Fritz mentioned that the pinpoint location of Mensik’s serve was what made such an issue to cope with. He added that guessing might need been his greatest probability.
“The spot serving in the present day was insane,” Fritz mentioned. “I actually ought to have simply began guessing and choosing a aspect extra typically as a substitute of attempting to react and use my attain like I usually do. I felt like both he missed the serve or he hit it inside an inch or two of the road. I actually ought to have simply began guessing.”
