Novak Djokovic’s bid to claim a landmark 100th ATP title remained on track as he overcame talented teenager Jakub Mensik in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters.
The Serbian fourth seed lost the first set on a tie-break to the Czech 19-year-old but battled back for a 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-4 victory.
Djokovic, 37, will face American world number seven Taylor Fritz in Saturday’s second semi-final.
Fritz, 26, comfortably beat Belgium’s David Goffin 6-3 6-4 on Friday to book his place in the last four. It extended a run that has seen Fritz progress past the third round for the first time in Shanghai.
After reaching his 78th Masters 1,000 semi-final, Djokovic was full of praise for his much younger opponent.
“Jakub is someone I’ve been following in the last three, four years,” he said. “We went toe-to-toe until the last moment, until the last game.
“I could see today why he is one of the best servers we have in the game – and he’s only 19.
“I think the future is very bright for him. He knows that I am always there for him, whatever he needs.”
Mensik held his nerve in the opening set against Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
Djokovic, a record four-time winner of the tournament, was able to regroup after a scrappy performance in the tie-break and breezed through the second set, before putting the match to bed after two hours and 21 minutes.
Although US Open runner-up Fritz might prove a tough test for Djokovic, the decorated veteran holds a 9-0 career record from their past meetings.
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