| October 10, 2024 | by Vivienne Christie |
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Could it be the ultimate case of the master and the apprentice? When Novak Djokovic faces Jakub Mensik in the Rolex Shanghai Masters quarterfinals on Friday, it will be a first professional meeting with the Czech.
And yet Mensik, still just 19 and yet to complete a full year on tour, is an opponent the superstar Serbian knows well.
Mensik caught Djokovic's eye during a standout junior career in which he was an Australian Open finalist and peaked at No.2 in the rankings. Djokovic subsequently invited Mensik to train with him in Belgrade.
"I followed his development, I try to be available to him to help him out with advice and guidance, to his parents as well, they're lovely people," said Djokovic. "So, I'm very thrilled for him that he's doing so well. I always believed that he's got potential to be one of the top players of the world, and he's building that kind of momentum right now."
Indeed, Mensik is a standout performer in his debut appearance at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, claiming wins this week over Pedro Martinez, Andrey Rublev, Alexander Shevchenko and Grigor Dimitrov. Each of those wins has been achieved in three hard-fought sets.
Within that record, Mensik has added to a brilliant early record against top-10 opponents, with the teenager now beating both Rublev and Dimitrov twice this year.
Such eye-turning progress is no surprise to Djokovic, who expects a tough encounter in their first tour encounter on Friday evening.
"I expect a tough challenge, for sure, because he's got a big, big serve on this surface that is quick, it puts a lot of pressure," he said of the 194-centimetre Czech. "He's got an all-around game, can come to the net, he can defend well, he's just an exciting player to watch."
Mensik is "more than excited" to face Djokovic, his childhood idol, at this level.
"(It's) obviously a dream come true. Because of him I started to play tennis," said the world No.65. "When I was young and starting to play tennis, he was already on the top. I was like, ‘Wow, he's really good', you know, he made a lot of Grand Slams.
"And right now when I'm 19 and he's still playing, I have this chance to play against him and of course, when I started to play there was one wish to play against him. So I'm really happy that it came true."
The afternoon session at Qi Zhong Tennis Centre sees Taylor Fritz and David Goffin battling for a place in a first Rolex Shanghai Masters quarterfinal.
The seventh-seeded Fritz contested a first Grand Slam final at the recent US Open and is a straight-sets winner in all three of his Shanghai matches this year. In the fourth round, he held No.12 seed Holger Rune to just three games.
Still, the American appreciates the challenge he faces against a resurgent Goffin, who stunned No.2 seed Alexander Zverev in his latest match.
"I haven't played Goffin in a very long time, so that could be interesting" said Fritz, who defeated the Belgian in their last match at Doha in 2021.
Goffin, the winner of the pair's only other match at Cincinnati in 2019, is thrilled to contest his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal in more than three years.
"It's going to be tough, but, you know, it's a quarterfinal, Masters 1000, all the matches are very difficult, so we will see," said the 33-year-old.
"I just probably will be focused on my tennis and what I have to do, and try to, like today, try to play aggressive, try to hit the ball really well, try to be relaxed, enjoy the match, and we will see if I can play my best tennis to win."
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