I Have Not Forgotten About Miami

This one might be at least slightly personal for Djokovic...

Both players made it to the fourth round, despite some close calls. For Mensik, it was mainly in the first round against PCB where he mounted a comeback and won the last two sets. In his last match against Quinn, he managed to be the more clutch player in a rather scrappy battle. Fortunately, he grabbed it in straight sets, because he was starting to look a bit physically affected already. For Djokovic, it was a different kind of danger. He is yet to lose a set; however, he almost recreated the Australian Open accident where he got defaulted!

Mensik has always been quite clutch, relying on his big serve, good record in tiebreaks, and ability to stay solid from the baseline. While he did exceptionally well to beat Djokovic in straight sets in Miami, it might not be so easy to repeat. He is the player who is more likely to be less physically fresh, and they are playing last in the evening/night session (slower conditions). Also, of course, we have best-of-five sets this time. Mensik is not a player who is very comfortable when he is the one who has to attack and dictate, but he might need to take some initiative in this match. Djokovic should be able to play the "long game" here, constructing points carefully without giving Mensik too much pace to work with. Quinn had an excellent opportunity to beat Mensik, but had an off-serving day and an exploitable backhand. It looks like a tough task for Mensik this time...