By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday March 29, 2025
Jakub Mensik fired 25 aces in his three-set win over Taylor Fritz to develop into the third youngest participant to achieve a Miami Open males’s singles ultimate. The vanquished American had nothing however reward for the enhancements that the Czech teen has made because the 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 believe he is improved naturally, like nearly every part in his recreation has improved. Once you’re younger like that, you are simply going to get higher.”
Fritz had a variety of hassle making inroads in opposition to Mensik’s serve. He broke as soon as within the center set however that was all he may handle in opposition to 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 nicely. I used to be in a position to simply be on his serve on a regular basis. It was massive, 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 may need been his greatest likelihood.
“The spot serving at this time was insane,” Fritz mentioned. “I actually ought to have simply began guessing and selecting a facet extra usually as an alternative 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.”
