Miami Open 2025 Day 10 Semi Final Recap - Perfect Tennis

Day 10 at the 2025 Miami Open delivered two semi-finals at opposite ends of the age spectrum.

19-year-old Jakub Mensik thundered 25 aces to upset Taylor Fritz 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(4), while 37-year-old Novak Djokovic dispatched Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-3 with a serving clinic, landing a career-high 87% of his first serves.

Mensik, the third-lowest-ranked finalist in Miami history, won a grueling 27-shot rally to help seal his tiebreak triumph over Fritz, setting up a dream final against his childhood idol Djokovic, who’s one win from a record seventh Miami title and his 100th tour-level trophy.

Mensik looks like a serve bot with a big future, while Djokovic’s 20-1 record in Miami after reaching the quarter-finals makes him the heavy favourite for Sunday’s final. Below is a full recap, match stats, and highlights from Friday’s semi-finals.

Day Ten 2025 Miami Open Semi-Final Results

Winner
Loser
Scoreline

Jakub Mensik
Taylor Fritz (3)
7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(4)

Novak Djokovic (4)
Grigor Dimitrov (14)
6-2, 6-3

Mensik Outmanoeuvres Fritz

Jakub Mensik took out Taylor Fritz 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(4) to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final and set up a showdown with childhood hero Novak Djokovic.

Mensik has powered his way through the draw, and he continued that trend on Friday, thundering 25 aces and holding his nerve in two clutch tiebreaks to oust the hometown favourite,

The Czech could not break Fritz’s serve throughout the two-hour, 25-minute clash, and the American saved the only two break points he faced in the third set.

However, the tie-breaks were where Mensik found his game, winning a grueling 27-shot rally on Fritz’s serve in the third set tie-break to set up two match points, converting the first with a blistering ace.

In what was a servefest, I thought Fritz played pretty well, but his forehand wasn’t as solid as he’d like. This year, he’s not hit that shot so well, and while I think it looked better in Miami, some key errors cost him in the semifinal and that’s why Mensik was able to come out on top.

As for Mensik, he’s a real force with his game, huge serve, big groundies but not the best mover out there which I think Novak will exploit in the final.

The return was tough today. We were serving really great today so he didn’t give me an opportunity to break him. It was just the tie-breaks for me that was the decider. I came to show my best performance in the tie-breaks. Mensik on his win.

Between the two tie-breaks, I have to win one of them. I have to play a little bit better. I think when I’m playing well, when I’m winning matches, it’s kind of just what I do. I pull through these situations. So to just kind of get out-toughed in two tie-breaks, it sucks. I did my job. I didn’t get broken. I didn’t face a break point until the third set, so… it sucks. If the conditions are fast enough and he’s serving well enough, he’s always going to be in the match. It’s going to be tight. He’s going to have a solid chance. I’m not sure because I couldn’t return a serve, that doesn’t mean that Novak is not going to be able to return a serve. It’s going to depend on that. Fritz on the loss.

Match Stats

Jakub Mensik
Taylor Fritz

Winners
40
39

Unforced Errors
37
34

Aces
25
14

Double Faults
4
3

1st Serve %
73% (74/101)
69% (79/114)

1st Serve Points Won
82% (61/74)
80% (63/79)

2nd Serve Points Won
52% (14/27)
46% (16/35)

Break Points Saved
50% (1/2)
100% (2/2)

Service Games
94% (16/17)
100% (17/17)

1st Return Points Won
20% (16/79)
18% (13/74)

2nd Return Points Won
54% (19/35)
48% (13/27)

Break Points Won
0% (0/2)
50% (1/2)

Return Games
0% (0/17)
6% (1/17)

Pressure Points
11% (1/9)
89% (8/9)

Service Points
74% (75/101)
69% (79/114)

Return Points
31% (35/114)
26% (26/101)

Total Points
51% (110/215)
49% (105/215)

Max Points In A Row
5
4

Total Games
47% (16/34)
53% (18/34)

Max Games In A Row
2
2

Djokovic Serves His Way Past Dimitrov

Novak Djokovic is one win away from a record seventh Miami Open and his 100th tour-level trophy, dispatching Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-3 in a clinical 70-minute semi-final on Friday.

Djokovic’s serve was once again the cornerstone of his game. He landed 87% of his first serves (highest of his career) and won 79% of those points.

Dimitrov started well with a break in the first game of the match, but he quickly tired. As I expected, he looked drained after his grueling quarter-final against Francisco Cerundolo, during which he needed medical assistance to leave the court and he committed 32 unforced errors.

It didn’t help that he had won only one of 12 encounters heading in, either, and he had no answers to Djokovic’s precision out there, with Novak not making a single unforced error off his forehand.

While I think that stat is somewhat misleading, as he knew he didn’t have to rip the forehand, as Dimitrov wasn’t able to hurt him from the baseline, staying perfect on a single shot at this level is impressive.

As far as my game goes, again, serve was definitely the highlight of the match. I think I was 83 per cent [first-serves made] last match, and I thought it would probably be difficult to beat that, but today 87 [per cent]. I don’t know what to say, I’ve been serving really well, and hopefully I can continue in the same fashion because that definitely makes my life easier on the court. Djokovic on his serving display.