Attempts to overthrow the duopoly at the top of men’s tennis have thus far proved a Sisyphean task.
João Fonseca is the most popular candidate, thousands of febrile Brazilian fans having flooded into the Hard Rock Stadium to watch him take on Carlos Alcaraz in the second round of the Miami Open on Friday. The 19-year-old lost in straight sets, just as he did — albeit far more narrowly — against Jannik Sinner in Indian Wells, but clearly has the tools to be a destructive force.
Before him, Jack Draper, Ben Shelton and Arthur Fils were among those touted as credible threats only to be thwarted by a combination of injuries and inconsistent form. However, it is perhaps the player who has drawn by far the least celebrity — at least going by social media following — who could be the first to reach the summit.
Jakub Mensik was only 19 years old when he clinched the first Masters title of his career here in Miami last year — a run that included victories against Draper, Fils, Taylor Fritz and then his hero and mentor, Novak Djokovic, in a tense and emotional final after a near six-hour rain delay. What made the breakthrough even more impressive was that Mensik had actually attempted to withdraw from the tournament on the eve of his first-round match owing to a knee injury that left him barely able to walk before a physio persuaded him he could persevere through the pain.
“It was different for me playing Novak than against other opponents because he’s my idol. It made it more special. During the rain delay I was just trying not to freak out, basically,” Mensik says. “After the last point it was just pure happiness that came out of me. Novak is a great guy, like a true champion. After the match it basically felt the same as the first day that we met.”
Alcaraz and Sinner are the two totems — although the latter suffered a shock defeat in the third round on Sunday night, world No36 Sebastian Korda becoming the lowest-ranked player to beat the Spaniard in the past year.
Mensik has yet to play Alcaraz, and beat Sinner in their first meeting in Qatar last month — but the world No13’s story is bound indelibly to Djokovic. Born in Prostejov, a city of about 50,000 in the east of the Czech Republic, Mensik’s father was an ice hockey player in his youth, but he quickly gravitated towards tennis like so many children in the country; notably seven of the present top 50 players on the WTA Tour are Czech. “If there was a football pitch in front of my house, I would probably be a football player. When I was five years old I just came into tennis. It was the first thing I saw and I grabbed it and the rest is history,” Mensik says.
Mensik has served further notice of his potential by claiming Sinner’s scalp this yearFrancois Nel/Getty
Jiri Lehecka, the men’s world No22, trains at the same club as Mensik and serves as both a role model and practice partner. But after Mensik, aged 16, lost in the final of the Australian Open boys’ singles in 2022, collapsing with full body cramps after an extraordinary 3hr 43min match, it was Djokovic who contacted him out of the blue and invited him to a training camp in Belgrade. “In interviews there, when I was asked who my idol was, I always said Novak and he must have noticed it,” Mensik says. “I received a video message from him congratulating me and he invited me to his place.
“I had dreamt of one day meeting him and maybe taking a picture, so to practise with him and go for lunches and dinners, it was just different. It was an experience that I could never find practising [at a tournament], looking at everything he does on and off the court, all the small details to try and implement in my game.”
Djokovic says Mensik has the “complete game”, having experienced its pulverising force at the Hard Rock Stadium Geoff Burke/Reuters
Armed with a huge serve and backhand, Mensik was already on a sharp trajectory — he peaked at No2 in the junior world rankings — but Djokovic’s teaching paid dividends, particularly when it came to fitness and adjusting to the rigours of life on tour. He won his first Challenger title aged 17 in 2023 and then defeated top seed Andrey Rublev en route to the final of the Qatar Open at the start of the following year — a run that made him the youngest player ranked inside the top 100. He reached the third round of the US Open later that year before coming up against Djokovic for the first time in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters.
“Two years before I was playing practice sets with him losing 6-1 and didn’t have a chance because I was a junior,” Mensik says. “Of course I lost, but a year later I had another opportunity. In Shanghai it was such a nice experience and I went there to enjoy it. [In Miami] I went there to beat him.”
After the interminable delays that meant the final did not start until nearly 9pm local time, Mensik produced a spectacular serving display, ceding only one break point all match as he edged both tie-breaks to win in straight sets and briefly deny Djokovic his 100th ATP Tour-level title.
The 6ft 5in Czech plans to “take over from the previous generation”Debby Wong/ZUMA/Shutterstock Editorial
Djokovic said: “I’m never really happy to lose, but he’s one of the very few players that I would be happier to lose to, to be honest … to see his development and evolution is really great, amazing. I could see back then already — three, four years ago — that he’s going to be one of the top players of the world. I’m super-glad that he’s using the potential that he has, because he’s got the complete game.”
Maintaining that momentum did not prove easy as the schedule took its toll and Mensik suffered surprising second-round exits at both the French and US Opens. He started this season in better form, though, winning his second ATP Tour title at the Auckland Open in January, but was then forced to withdraw before his fourth-round match at the Australian Open because of an abdominal injury. His scheduled opponent: Djokovic.
But a hard-fought victory over Sinner last month was further evidence Mensik will continue to stake his own claim, even if a virus troubled him during his 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Adam Walton in the second round in Miami on Saturday. “The goal for me now is to try and stay healthy because last year you could see a lot of players struggling with injuries,” he says.
“If we are talking tournament-wise or ranking-wise, of course it is my dream to win grand-slams and become world No1 but, at the same time I want to play for as long as I can and stay healthy and take over from the previous generation.”