Jakub Mensik said it is the “job” of the rest of the ATP tour to “catch up” with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz because at the moment, there is “nothing.”
World No.1 Alcaraz will contest another major final on Saturday in the Doha Open as his, and Sinner’s, dominance of the men’s singles draw continues.
The Spaniard has yet to lose a match this season having been victorious against Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final and now reaching the last match in Doha and such dominance has made one ATP player suggest the rest of the tour is lagging behind.
World No. 16 Mensik remarked there was “nothing” close to those two on the tour at the moment.
“Jannik and Carlos are the best in the world. After them, there is nothing, then there is us,” he said as per Sky Sports Italia.
“Our job is to try to catch up with Jannik and Carlos and to follow in their footsteps, because what they’re doing is fantastic. Jannik didn’t have a great day, but in the tie-break I served very well, I always put first and helped myself a lot”
Mensik did claim the notable scalp of Sinner in the quarter final, representing the ninth time the 20-year-old has defeated a top 10 player in his young career but he then lost to Arthur Fils who is the underdog for Saturday’s final.
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Of the contenders to challenge Sinner and Alcaraz, Mensik shows some promise with a 9-8 win/loss ratio against top 10 players so far in his career.
On his upset, Mensik remarked beating Sinner was a “mental battle” as much as it was a physical and technical one.
“Before the match, I knew about Jannik’s quality,” he said.
“A great guy, a great champion. Already what he has done in his young career, it’s pretty impressive, so I knew it was going to be a tough one. But even with that thought, I came to the match to win it, and actually having a winning mindset.
“I served pretty good, even if the conditions were starting to get slower during the night. It was a very tough mental battle.
“After the second set, when I dropped my energy a little bit, I’m really happy that I came back after the toilet break and from the beginning of the third set, I just started to serve well again. I’m just happy with the performance I showed today.”
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