Ready to take a flight in Jeddah, Jakub Mensik remembers the mistake of the airport in childhood | ATP Tour

Next Gen ATP Finals

Determined to fly to Jeddah, Mensik recalls a childhood airport mistake

The Czech made his Jeddah debut

December 17, 2024

Jakub Mensik made his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF with a breakout season that included four Top 10 wins. One of four Jeddah players inside the Top 50 of the PIF ATP Rankings – alongside Arthur Fils, Alex Michelsen and Shang Juncheng – Mensik knew before the start of the 2024 season that he wanted to end it with a showcase event for the under-20s and less.

“It was one of my biggest goals to reach this event before the season,” he said this week. “I’m happy to be here. So far it’s amazing, the facilities and everything they’ve done for us. You can really feel that he’s one of the best young players in the world.”

Throughout his rise, Mensik has always been able to count on the constant support of his parents, Michal and Katerina. Both his parents are from Jeddah, and have been accompanying Mensik since his younger tennis days.

The family is used to flying now, but remembers the airport mistake years ago, long before Mensik got used to the nomadic life. When he was 9, the family was waiting for luggage when Mensik was disturbed by a cat. After going to investigate, he lost track of his parents, who left the baggage claim before realizing their son was missing.

Mensik remembers the terrifying wait until his father came back: “Out of nowhere, my father showed up 30, 45 minutes later, and everything was fine,” he said with a laugh.

It will be hard to lose sight of Mensik this week as he competes under the spotlight at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.

Although Mensik has exceeded all expectations outside this year on the ATP Tour, the 19-year-old is not putting himself under any undue pressure in Jeddah. As the third seed, he will open his campaign against Student Tien on Wednesday.

“I never had any expectations,” he explained. “Obviously enjoying this good tournament. Of course I would be happy to win a few games and of course I will come here to win it.”

Mensik did the same in his first ATP Tour tournament in February in Doha, where he beat Andrey Rublev en route to the final. He also beat Rublev on his way to the quarter-finals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where he pushed his idol Novak Djokovic to three sets. Mensik counts those two weeks as the highlights of his year, along with representing Czechia at the Olympics and the Davis Cup.

He will hope to finish his 2024 campaign with another week to remember in Jeddah.