Mar 30, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Jakub Mensik (CZE) celebrates with ball persons while holding the Butch Buchholz championship trophy after his match against Novak Djokovic (SRB)(not pictured) in the men's singles championship of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium.

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Former Grand Slam Champion Compares Jakub Mensik to Roger Federer While Decoding his “Elite” Quality

Mensik won his maiden Masters-1000 title in Miami.

19-year-old Jakub Mensik made the world stand up and take notice by beating Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s Miami Open final. Having idolized the Serbian icon for many years, the astute Czech sensation pulled off a 7-6(4) 7-6(4) victory in a rain-affected encounter. One of the keys to success for Mensik was his gigantic serve. And post his Miami glory, ATP legend Andy Roddick has highlighted the importance of Mensik’s best weapon.

During his playing days, Andy Roddick was one of the best servers in the game himself. He won 32 career singles titles, including a Grand Slam trophy at the 2003 US Open. A former World No. 1, Roddick retired in 2012 to focus on the Andy Roddick Foundation. Some might say the next Andy Roddick doppelgänger has finally arrived on the circuit, in the form of Jakub Mensik.

Roddick Says Jakub Mensik’s Serve is Similar to Roger Federer

Speaking on his ‘Served With Andy Roddick’ podcast, the 42-year-old analysed the outstanding service of Czechia’s next superstar. “That serve is going to win him a lot of matches when he’s not playing perfectly in other parts of his game,” Roddick stated. “His first serve is elite.”

But what does Andy know about serving?

Our Miami Open recap is out NOW on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts! 🎥🎾https://t.co/fINFjmCIiQ pic.twitter.com/cS5y3iCm6v
— Served with Andy Roddick (@Served_Podcast) April 1, 2025

There is nobody better to talk about this aspect than Roddick, who also relied heavily on his first serve during his not-so-great days on court. The American also made a comparison with the legendary Roger Federer – who was kryptonite to him for the longest time.

“What made [Roger] Federer a great server is that he could throw the ball over his head like a kick serve and then hit a slice out wide. So you never really had a read, so you never really felt comfortable. Mensik’s able to hit bombs off of the same toss.” He spoke further about Jakub being able to hit all four corners of the box with the same ball toss – an incredibly hard thing to do.

Mensik’s Magical Fortnight in Miami

What culminated in the wildest possible outcome that Jakub Mensik could’ve dreamt of, started as a nightmarish fortnight for the teenager. Before his first match, he was all set to withdraw from the tournament. However, the fact that the referee was having lunch at the same time and an ATP physio did some treatment on him, meant that the stars aligned for Mensik.

After scraping past Roberto Bautista Agut in Round-1, Mensik raced to the semifinals without dropping a set. He overcame a marathon match against Taylor Fritz 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(4) to book a spot in the grand final. Coming face to face with Novak Djokovic in the summit clash – a man who inspired him to pick up the tennis racquet – the new World No. 24 denied Nole his 100th title on tour.

Having written a new page in the history books, Jakub Mensik also wrote “#1st of Many” on the camera lens after his glorious success. If he can fulfil this promise, there is no doubt that a glittering career lies ahead.

Andy Roddick

ATP

ATP Masters 1000

Jakub Mensik

Miami Open

Miami Open Final

Novak Djokovic

Roger Federer

US Open

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.