Djokovic, 37, shoots for 100th title against Czech teen

By Harvey Fialkov

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The late, great Vitas Gerulaitis finally beat Jimmy Connors after losing 16 matches in a row to the Hall of Famer, prompting him to say: “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row.”

Well, Grigor Dimitrov came into Friday afternoon’s windy semifinal in the Miami Open presented by Itau at Hard Rock Stadium, having lost 10 times in a row to all-time great Novak Djokovic.

Make it 11 and 1-13 overall.

The 37-year-old Serb continues to age like a fine wine and needed just 71minutes to dispatch his Bulgarian pal, 6-2, 6-3 to reach his eighth final in Miami and 142^nd ATP tour-level final.

Djokovic, the fourth seed, will be seeking his 100^th career title, nine below Connors, the all-time leader — against 19-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik, who edged No. 3 Taylor Fritz in a 2:24 service-dueling slugfest, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4) in the evening match.

Djokovic, nearly double Mensik’s age, faced the 6-foot-4 stoic teen in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Open last year and struggled to a 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-4 victory. Mensik said he was in awe of Djokovic, but 3 p.m. Sunday will be all business.

“I’m actually a different player,’’ said Mensik, into his second ATP Tour final but first Masters 1000 final. “I was kind of nervous. I’m not saying that I would not be on Sunday. I was not able to hold my nerves very well in the match. … I’ve just grown up a little mentally.

“Playing right now I feel that the conditions and everything here suits me very well. I feel really comfortable on the court. So, I’m going there on Sunday to win. No doubt on that.”

Mensik is seeking his maiden title and comes in as the third lowest-ranked finalist in tournament history behind No. 77 Sebastian Grosjean in 1999 and No. 55 Guillermo Canas in 2007. He’s the third Czech finalist along with Ivan Lendl (1986-87, ’89) and Tomas Berdych (2010), who’s the last Czech to play a Masters final (Monte Carlo 2015).

He’s the third youngest player to reach a Miami Open final behind Rafa Nadal in 2005 and Carlos Alcaraz in 2022. He was star-struck when soccer legend, Inter-Miami forward Lionel Messi, came into the locker room before the match and shook his hands.

“I didn’t wash it before the match to bring me some luck,’’ said Mensik, whose rank of 54 will drop to at least a career-high 30. “So probably that was the key for today.”

After his victory, the usually stoic teen repeatedly screamed, “Let’s Go!!!” and signed the camera lens: “Thx Leo” with a heart.

That hand then delivered 25 cannon-like aces to go with winning points on 72 percent of his first serves and 82 percent of his second serve. He needed his big weapon because Fritz, the last American of 19 in the draw to go home, said he couldn’t remember ever losing a match without dropping his serve at all while saving both break points.

Fritz, 27, was coming off a similar serving contest with Italian Matteo Berrettini in Thursday’s thrilling quarterfinal, said that he reaggravated an abdomen injury that affected his service-return strategy.

“I had to work harder for my points on my serve than he did,’’ said Fritz, who only surrendered three games in his lone match against Mensik on his 18^th birthday in an early-round victory in the 2023 US Open. “He got some freebies, then he made me play a bit more on some of my service points. That made the difference.

“I’d say it doesn’t really take the pain away too much. Between the two breakers, I have to win one of them. I have to play a little bit better. … To just kind of get out-toughed in two breakers, it sucks. I did my job. I didn’t get broken. I didn’t face a break point until the third set.

“His serve is a massive improvement. I played him at the US Open in ’23. He had a big serve, but he didn’t place it that well. I was able to just be on his serve all the time. It was big, but he didn’t hit the spots. Yeah, the spot serving today was insane.”

Djokovic, who hasn’t lost a set in his five matches, followed up his lofty 83 percent, first-serve outing with 11 aces in his 6-3, 7-6 (4) quarterfinal victory over American Sebastian Korda, with a lofty 87 percent against Dimitrov, while winning 79 percent of those serves (5 aces). He only needed six second serves and nailed 10 winners with a meager five unforced errors.

Djokovic doesn’t possess the 135-mph serves of Menski, but his uncanny placement and ability to disguise whether it will be flat, a slice or a kick serve makes it a guessing game for the returner.

“I had no idea where the hell it was going,’’ Korda said after their match.

“This is a whole different level of serving,’’ admitted Djokovic, who has been working on it with his renowned rival/coach Andy Murray. “I didn’t expect to top my serve from the last match where I had 83 percent and I had 87 today. I think I missed [6 first] serves in the whole match. That’s really an amazing standard. … It makes my life easier.”

At one point in the lopsided match, Djokovic made 31 of his first 33 first serves.

“It helps the court is playing pretty quick here compared to six years ago, when it was slower,’’ said Djokovic, who hadn’t played Miami since 2019 and hadn’t won since 2016.

“It really helps when you have a big serve and you get free points off it. In the last couple of matches I’ve been joking with Tim Henman [former British Top10 player and announcer], now I know how it feels to be [ace machines, near 7-footers John Isner or Reilly Opelka].

“Maybe not as many aces as these guys but it does help tremendously. It releases that unnecessary pressure from all the other shots in your game. Then you could put more pressure on your return games of the opponent.

“It’s great if you can serve 130-mph but I’d rather serve 120-mph and hit the line or perfect spot in the box because that’s what wins points or gives you an easy shot.”

It certainly didn’t help Dimitrov, 33, who was one step shy of matching last year’s surprising run to the finals here, that two nights ago he was completely dehydrated. He needed to be helped off the court and on to a wheelchair after surviving a 2-hour, 48-minute battle with Francisco Cerundolo.

Dimitrov said in his postmatch press conference that he couldn’t remember 10 minutes after the match when he literally couldn’t get off his chair. He used the day off resting and, “chugging water.”

“All I remembered was the wheelchair,’’ he said.

Dimitrov made no excuses about losing to a near flawless performance by Djokovic.

“It was a mountain to climb today, especially how it was from a couple of days ago, so again good on Novak,’’ Dimitrov said. “He’s so solid through those type of matches and also those type of conditions made it extremely difficult on me, especially when I’m not in the higher range of playing the game, it becomes more difficult.

“Theres a reason why who he is. Of course, a few games I was 30-all and could’ve gone either way.  Sometimes it takes one point to change the momentum. That’s that. He’s just doing the basics extremely well, better than everyone.”

Dimitrov broke Djokovic in the first game of the match but that was the last time he sniffed a break point. He asked about the difference playing a 30-year-old Djokovic to this 37-year-old version.

“He’s got a little bit more freedom right now,’’ Dimitrov said. “If I was him I would have that too, if you’ve done what you have done. That confidence stays there like a stain that you can’t wipe off.

“It’s honestly a beautiful thing to see. There are very few athletes on earth that does that and clearly, he’s one of those athletes”

Dimitrov was never really in this match as Djokovic rarely missed a groundstroke while applying pressure on his opponent’s one-handed backhand with his inside-out forehand to the corners.

Here are some of Djokovic’s historic numbers he’s chasing or attained: record-extending 41st Masters 1000 title; record seventh Miami Open title surpassing Andre Agassi, but first since 2016; he tied Federer for 20 years of making at least one tour final in the Open Era; oldest player ever in Masters 1000 final.

Long forgotten is Djokovic’s rare three-match losing streak he entered Miami with, which included a retirement in the Australian Open semis due to a torn hamstring. His extraterrestrial level this week is also dispelling whispers that he won’t add to his record 23 Grand Slam titles total.

Although Djokovic hasn’t faced anyone ranked less than 15^th in this tournament, he has proven to himself and the tennis pundits that he’s not ready to join Federer and Rafael Nadal into retirement.

“I still prove to myself and others that I can still play at the highest level and play the way I play,’’ he said earlier this week. “I want to keep going, keep exploring the possibilities and reaching the highest level and fight for the biggest trophies like the Miami Open.”

Djokovic said he drew inspiration from Messi, a fellow G.O.A.T. in the stands, who he met with afterward. He joked that one of Messi’s sons only rated his performance an 8 out 10 and that he challenged him to get a 10 on Sunday.

 “So, I have quite a bit of pressure from Messi’s son there,’’ he laughed.

Top seeds advance to men’s doubles final

The men’s final is set as the top-seeded duo of Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Croatian Mate Pavic takes on sixth-seeded British duo Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

Arevalo, who lives in Plantation, has won 14 doubles titles, including two French Opens. Pavic, a certain Hall of Famer, has won 40 doubles titles, including four Grand Slams and seven Masters 1000s. He and Arevalo are looking to repeat in Miami.

Cash and Glasspool have combined to win 12 doubles titles, including Doha and Brisbane this year as a team.