Serbia’s Djokovic has won 24 Grand Slam titles – a men’s record – and won the long-awaited Olympic gold earlier this year.

The 37-year-old will face American world number seven Taylor Fritz in Saturday’s semi-final in a bid for a groundbreaking 100th title.

The 26-year-old Fritz easily beat the Belgian David Goffin 6:3 and 6:4 on Friday and thus secured his place in the last four. This extended a run in which Fritz made it past the third round for the first time in Shanghai.

Djokovic, who will now compete in the Masters 1,000 semifinals for the 78th time, said the matches against the next generation motivated him.

“It keeps me going and pushes me to really dig deep and show the world that I still have what it takes, that I can still go the distance with the young guys,” he said.

“I’m super happy that I managed to win this very challenging game.”

The 19-year-old Mensik kept his nerve in the opening set against Djokovic.

But Djokovic, the tournament’s record four-time winner, regrouped after a poor performance in the tie-breaker and cruised through the second set with ease before ending the match after two hours and 21 minutes.

Although US Open runner-up Fritz could pose a tough test for Djokovic, the decorated veteran holds a career record of 9-0 from his past encounters.