Miami Open 2024: Luca Nardi vs Jakub Mensik; Preview, Prediction and Head-to-Head

Luca Nardi will take on Jakub Mensik at the qualifiers of the Miami Open in just a few hours from now. Nardi recently produced one of the biggest upsets in the history of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells by defeating the world number one, Novak Djokovic in the R32. Mensik, on the other hand, is a big fan of Novak Djokovic adding a compelling narrative to this clash.

This will be the first time the two players will go against each other as they look to go past the qualifying rounds.

Jakub Mensik vs Luca Nardi: Preview

Jakub Mensik started his journey this season by reaching the finals at the Challenger tournament in Canberra. After that, the Czech went to Melbourne Park and made it to the second round of the Australian Open this year. He was defeated in his second-round match by Hubert Hurkacz in a five-set thriller. Mensik reached the semi-finals of Challenger in Manama before making a historic run at the Qatar Open this year.

Mensik recently stunned the three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray and Andrey Rublev at the Qatar Open. He reached the finals in Doha but was eventually defeated by Russia’s Karen Khachanov. In the Dubai Tennis Championships, he reached the R16, and then at the Indian Wells, he was defeated by American tennis star Ben Shelton in the R64.

Mensik has a compiled 17-6 win-loss record in 2024, 16-6 on hard. This will be the first time he will compete in the Miami Open.

On the other hand, Luca Nardi didn’t have a great start to his season this year. But he reached the finals of the Chennai Challenger. in February. In the finals, he was defeated by the Indian tennis sensation, Sumit Nagal by 6-1,6-4. But Nardi’s name came to the headlines after his incredible performance against Novak Djokovic in the Indian Wells. But he lost to Tommy Paul in his next match.

Nardi has a 9-7 win-loss record in 2024, 9-6 on hard with his best performance coming in the Chennai Challenger.

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Mensik vs Nardi: Head-to-Head

Both of them haven’t met each other earlier on the tour. Jakub Mensik has played almost 72 matches over the past year and has a win percentage of 69.4%. Whereas, Luca Nardi has played about 75 matches in the last 12 months and has a win percentage of 54.7%.

The 18YO tennis star from the Czech Republic, Jakub Mensik is currently the number third Czech player in singles and also the youngest in the Top 100. He made his presence felt for the first time on the Grand Slam stage after reaching the third round of the 2023 US Open at the age of just 17.

Currently ranked number 70 in the world Mensik will be keen to extend his stay beyond the qualifiers and continue his good start to the new season. Nardi is ranked 96 and will hope to carry on his momentum after beating world number Djokovic at Indian Wells.

But who will come out on top? Here’s our prediction for this match.

Prediction: Mensik to win this battle

Mensik looks to be more consistent with his performance over the last few matches. Whereas, the Italian, who idolizes Federer hasn’t done much besides his astonishing performance against ‘Djoker’ at Indian Wells. As such we predict Mensik to come out on top. His recent form and consistency make him a favorite.

Although this match looks to be going deep, the Czech tennis star has the upper hand in this contest.

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