Next Gen
Trip to Jeddah: Top 50 Mensik leads ‘new blood’
The Czech reached the final in Doha in early 2024
December 16, 2024
ATP Tour
Jakub Mensik is set to make his Jeddah debut.
Written by Arthur Kapetanakis
Czech star Jakub Mensik achieved the biggest goal of his 2024 season by qualifying for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF for the first time. Now the 19-year-old is looking for a title in Jeddah.
Mensik reached his first ATP Tour final in February at the age of 18, defeating Andy Murray, Andrey Rublev and Gael Monfils to advance to the title match in Doha. That run made him the first player born in 2005 or later to reach a tour-level final. While she was defeated by Karen Khachanov in the championship match, her breakout week earned her a debut in the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings.
“That was amazing. It’s a really good feeling that in this new year I can compete with the best players,” he said when filming the ATP Tour’s Journey to Jeddah series, “All these little details, all these little things and experiences push me to the top of my career.”
Since that week, Mensik has competed exclusively at the tour level. He will enter Jeddah inside the Top 50 after recent quarter-final runs at the Rolex Shanghai Masters – where he took out Novak Djokovic – and Vienna.
The major stages of the ATP Tour are a far cry from the neighborhood courts in front of his childhood home in Prostejov, Czechia, where Mensik learned the game from the age of four. He was hooked from the start, his passion for the game deepened by his obvious talent.
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Prostejov is famous for tennis, explains his father Michal, who lives in one of the three national tennis centers in the Czech Republic. The small town now has an even bigger tennis game thanks to Mensik’s rise – but the local hero is not satisfied.
“Tennis is improving every year, every season, so it is very important that we try to be better than the generation before us,” said Mensik, noting how he admires Next Gen ATP Finals players such as Stefanos Tsitsipas (2018), Jannik Sinner (2019) ) , Carlos Alcaraz (2021).
“Tennis fans love new blood,” he added. “They want to know who’s next.”
An all-rounder with a huge career, the Czech is determined to make his mark at the top of the ATP Tour. He sees Jeddah as a perfect stepping stone.
“It is very exciting that the ATP gives young players the opportunity to see how it works [one of] the best ATP events and tournaments on the tour,” he said. “We’ll see, but I also want to win, of course.”
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