Taylor Fritz predicts who he thinks will win the Miami Open final between Novak Djokovic and Jakub Mensik.
The American was the favourite to compete in Sunday’s championship match when he faced the Czech teenager in Friday’s semi-final.
But the 27-year-old suffered a three-set defeat to Mensik, who is preparing to compete in his Masters 1000 final.
Though Taylor Fritz is disappointed to be missing out, he discussed the final and predicted who will lift the trophy inside Hard Rock Stadium.
Taylor Fritz names who he thinks is the most likely Miami Open final winner
Fritz will have to watch the Miami Open final from the sidelines after losing to Jakub Mensik in the semi-finals.
He suffered a 6-7, 6-4, 6-7 loss to and now Mensik will battle Novak Djokovic for the right to be called champion in Miami.
The former World number one has returned to form and Djokovic became the oldest Masters 1000 finalist in history, and he is on the verge of lifting a 100th ATP title.
Mensik will be a huge threat especially with his thunderous serve, but with Djokovic back in top form, Fritz thinks he is more likely to emerge victorious.
“Obviously I am a little bit biased as someone who has lost to him 10 times, I would always take him as the favourite no matter what. But it is going to be interesting to see,” Fritz said.
“I would say that [playing in the day] probably helps, that is in favour of Mensik. It is going to help him stay on top of his serve and get more free points on the serve.
“It is a question of how well he is going to serve I think. If Novak can return his serve and get balls in play then I think that is going to be really tough to beat him.
“But if the conditions are fast enough and he’s serving well enough then he is always going to be in the match and it’s going to be tight and he’s going to have a solid chance.
“I am just not sure because I couldn’t return his serve, it doesn’t mean that Novak is not going to be able to return his serve so it is going to depend on that.”
Taylor Fritz retains World number four ranking after Miami Open
Fritz began 2025 as an ATP top four player for the first time in his career.
Djokovic is breathing down his neck and he has a chance to add 1000 points to his tally should he win the Miami Open.
But given his run to the semi-finals, Fritz will maintain his number four ranking heading into the spring clay court swing.
He narrowly missed out on the chance to play Djokovic on Sunday, and it came down to two tiebreaks, which left him bitterly disappointed.
“Between the two tie-breaks, I have to win one of them. I have to play a little bit better,” Fritz said. “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.”
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