Djokovic Overcomes slow start to reach record Masters 100th semi-finals

Novak Djokovic fought off Jakub Mensik challenge, coming back from a set down to enter into a record semi-finals at the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Friday.

The 37-year-old Serbian and record four-time champion rallied from a set down to neutralise the threat of Czechia’s star Jakub Mensik, earning a 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-4 win to advance to the last four in Shanghai for a ninth time.

According to Infosys ATP Stats, Djokovic had a slow start but found his rhythm in an almost faultless second set, winning 92% (11/12) of the points after his opening serve.

“We went toe-to-toe until the last moment,” said Djokovic, who advanced to a record 77th Masters 1000 semi-final. “I was fortunate to find great serves in the last game, a couple of aces, that helps. I didn’t serve that well at the end of the first set when I was serving for it. He managed to turn things around by playing a good tie-break.

“I stayed collected and started off very well in the second [set], I felt that we both had a physical crisis at the beginning of the set. We pushed each other a lot, a lot of long rallies. [It was] a tough battle, almost two and a half hours.”

With the two hours and 19 minutes victory, Djokovic will next face seventh seed Taylor Fritz, who earlier claimed a dominant 6-3, 6-4 win against David Goffin.