Novak Djokovic overcomes ‘physical crisis’ as he takes big ATP Finals step with Shanghai Masters win
Novak Djokovic battled back from a set down to defeat rising star Jakub Mensik in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Shanghai Masters.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion felt both players had a “physical crisis” at one stage during the match, while he also had high praise for his 19-year-old opponent.
Djokovic earned a hard-fought 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-4 win against world No 65 Mensik to progress to the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai.
The great Serbian lost an intense opening set on a tiebreak after serving for the set at 5-4 and seeing a 3-0 tiebreak lead slip away.
The 37-year-old reacted strongly by racing to a 3-0 lead in the second set and he earned another break to wrap the set up in convincing fashion.
Djokovic then earned the only break of the deciding set to take a 3-2 lead before sealing victory with some strong serving.
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The world No 4’s triumph has seen him climb above Andrey Rublev into seventh place in the Live Race to Turin Rankings, boosting his ATP Finals qualification chances. The top eight players in the Race qualify for the season-ending championships.
Djokovic is now on 3,660 points, putting him 80 points ahead of Rublev in eighth, and crucially, 355 points ahead of Alex de Minaur in ninth.
In an on-court interview with Tennis TV, Djokovic hailed Mensik’s serving and potential following the pair’s first encounter.
“We went toe to toe, ’til the last moment, ’til the last game. I was fortunate to really find great serves in the last game, couple of aces, that helps,” Djokovic said.
“I didn’t serve that well at the end of the first set when I was serving for the set at 5-4. He managed to turn things around, [he] played a good tiebreak. I played quite a bad tiebreak.
“I just kind of stayed collected and started off very well in the second and I felt that we both had a little bit of a physical crisis at the beginning of the second. I think we pushed each other a lot, a lot of long rallies. A tough battle, really. Almost two and a half hours.
“Jakub is somebody that I’ve been following last three, four years, ever since he played finals of Junior Australian Open.
“Yeah, we did train at my tennis centre in Belgrade and in Montenegro as well, couple of training blocks together. I did not train with him [for] couple of years actually, maybe a year and a half.
“I could see today why he is one of the best servers we have in the game, and he’s only 19. I think future is very bright for him. He knows that I am always there for him, whatever he needs.
“I think we should train more together, you know, I think we like playing each other. I think we raise the level when we face each other.
“Today was obviously the first time officially, but we played a lot of practice matches and sets and it’s always a lot of fun. So I wish him all the best.”
Djokovic will face world No 7 Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters.
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