Novak Djokovic believes Jakub Mensik has the potential to become “one of the best players in the world” ahead of their Shanghai Masters quarter-final clash.
Four-time Shanghai champion and fourth seed Djokovic will play Czech star Mensik for the first time on Friday, with the winner going on to face Taylor Fritz or David Goffin in the last four.
Nineteen-year-old Mensik has long been recognised as one of the brightest talents on the ATP, and victory over ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov in round four was a fourth win against top-10 opponents in as many matches.
Aged 37, Djokovic is almost double the age of his upcoming opponent and is a significant favourite for the encounter.
However, the 24-time Grand Slam champion is refusing to underestimate Mensik ahead of his first clash against the world No 65, and revealed he has given the teen star “advice” in the past.
“He’s a young guy who’s on the rise,” said Djokovic.
“I’ve been following him since he played the Australian Open final, I think it was in the juniors about three years ago.
“We’ve had a week of training in Belgrade a couple of times, and he’s come to play in the Serbian Open on clay.
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“I’ve followed his development, I try to be available to give him advice and guidance, and to his parents, who are lovely people – so I’m very happy for him that he’s doing so well.
“I always thought he had the potential to become one of the best players in the world, and that’s what he’s doing right now.”
Djokovic is yet to drop a set in Shanghai, having produced some of his best tennis of the year at the Masters 1000 event.
The world No 4 needed two tiebreaks to fend off Alex Michelsen in round two, but was in sublime form against 28th seed Flavio Cobolli and Roman Safiullin.
Meanwhile, Mensik has played one more match in Shanghai than Djokovic – with only seeded players afforded the luxury of a round one bye.
The Czech defeated Pedro Martinez in three sets to start his campaign, before coming from a set down to beat sixth seed Andrey Rublev in round two.
That was a second win in as many meetings against the Russian, who he beat on his way to a first ATP final in Doha back in February, and he backed that up with victories over Alexander Shevchenko and Dimitrov.
Victory over Djokovic would signal the first time Mensik has ever beaten someone ranked as high as fourth in the world.