The 5 unseeded men to reach the Miami Open final: Jakub Mensik looks to make it 6

Jakub Mensik has been the breakthrough star of the Miami Open men’s singles draw.

Long recognised as one of the hottest prospects of the men’s game, the Czech is set to crack the top 40 for the first time after reaching his first Masters 1000 semi-final.

The world No 54 is an underdog in his semi-final against third seed Taylor Fritz, but unseeded players reaching the Miami Open final is not unheard of.

Should Mensik shock the US No 1, he would become the sixth unseeded man to reach the final.

1985 – Tim Mayotte and Scott Davis

The inaugural edition of the Miami Open produced what remains the only all-unseeded final in the men’s singles event, between American stars Mayotte and Davis.

World No 27 Davis was the highest-ranked of the two, and defeated both 13th seed Stefan Edberg and 11th seed Tomas Smid on his way to the final.

Meanwhile, world No 45 Mayotte did not face a single seed on his way to the final, with perhaps his most notable victory being a second-round triumph over a young Boris Becker.

Davis looked set for a comfortable victory as he eased into a two-set lead, only for Mayotte to fight back and stun his compatriot with a 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 triumph.

It was the first of 12 ATP Tour titles for the future world No 7, and he remains the only unseeded man to lift the title.

1991 – David Wheaton

Six years after Davis and Mayotte, another unseeded American made the final in the form of world No 46 Wheaton.

Having lost his first four matches of the 1991 season heading into Miami, little was expected of the 21-year-old coming into the tournament.

However, after three opening victories, Wheaton stunned defending champion Andre Agassi – the third seed and world No 4 – 6-0, 7-5 to reach the last eight.

The American then beat 28th seed Cristiano Caratti to reach the semi-final, where he downed top seed and world No 1 Edberg 6-3, 6-4 in one of the biggest upsets in Miami history.

Wheaton, who reached a high of 12th and won three ATP titles, was beaten 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 by 13th seed Jim Courier in the final.

1999 – Sebastien Grosjean

One of the biggest surprises in Miami history was the run of Grosjean back in 1999, with the 20-year-old Frenchman defying the odds to reach the final.

Grosjean was the world No 74 coming into the event and picked up an eye-catching win over 16th seed Gustavo Kuerten in round two, downing the future world No 1 6-3, 7-6(4).

The Frenchman would then go on to stun top seed and reigning world No 1 Carlos Moya in the fourth round, defeating the Spaniard 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(9) in an epic encounter.

Further victories over Dominik Hrbaty and 20th seed Francisco Clavet powered him into a first-ever ATP final, where he was up against Richard Krajicek.

The former Wimbledon champion sealed a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 7-5 victory, though Grosjean would go on to reach world No 4, win four ATP titles – and reach four Grand Slam semi-finals.

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2007 – Guillermo Canas

The last unseeded man to reach the final in Miami was Canas, a qualifier into the main draw back in 2007.

World No 55 Canas beat Tim Henman, 19th seed and former No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, and 15th seed Richard Gasquet on his way to round four, where he stunned top seed Roger Federer.

Having already beaten the world No 1 in Indian Wells that spring, the Argentine downed two-time defending champion Federer 7-6(2), 2-6, 7-5(5) to reach the last eight.

Wins over sixth seed Tommy Robredo and seventh seed Ivan Ljubicic powered him into the final, where he faced 10th seed Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic beat the Argentine, who reached world No 8 and won seven ATP titles, in straight sets to win his first Masters 1000 title, prevailing 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

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