new generation
Trip to Jeddah: Top 50 Mensik leads 'new blood'
The Czech team will reach the Doha finals in early 2024
December 16, 2024
ATP Tour
Jakub Mensik is about to make his debut in Jeddah.
Author: Arthur Kapetanakis
Czech star Jakub Mensik achieved his biggest goal of the 2024 season by qualifying for the Next Generation ATP Finals hosted by PIF for the first time. Now the 19-year-old is hoping to lift the trophy in Jeddah.
Mencic, 18, reached his first ATP Tour final in February, beating Andy Murray, Andrei Rublev and Gael Monfils to advance to the championship in Doha. That experience made him the first player born in 2005 or later to reach a tour final. Although he was defeated by Karen Khachanov in the championship match, his breakthrough week propelled him into the top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time.
“It's awesome. At this young age, I can compete with the best, and it feels really good,” he said while filming the ATP Tour Jeddah Tour Series. “All these little It’s the details, all those little things and experiences that push me higher in my career.
From that week on, Mencic played only Tour-level matches. He will enter the top 50 in Jeddah after defeating Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters and Vienna Masters.
The big stage on the ATP Tour is a long way from the community court in front of his childhood home in Prostjov, Czech Republic, where Mencic learned the game from the age of four. He was hooked from the start, and his obvious talent only deepened his love for the game.
<img alt="Jakub Mencik” style=”width:100%;” src=”
Prostejov is famous for tennis, his father Michal explained, and Prostejov is home to one of the three national tennis centers in the Czech Republic. The town now has a greater influence on the tennis scene thanks to Mencic's rise, but the local hero is far from satisfied.
“Tennis is improving every year, every season, so it's important to strive to be better than the generation before us,” Mencic said, noting his admiration for past Next Gen ATP Finals champions such as Ste Fanos Tsitsipas (2018), Yannik Sinner (2019)), Carlos Alcaraz (2021).
“Tennis fans love new blood,” he added. “They want to know who's coming next.”
An all-court player with a superb serve, the Czech is eager to make his mark at the top of the ATP Tour. He sees Jeddah as the perfect stepping stone.
“It’s really great that the ATP gives young players the opportunity to understand how it works. [one of] The most exciting ATP events and tournaments on tour,” he said. “We'll see, but of course, I want to win too.
Source link
-(1).aspx?w=390&resize=390,220&ssl=1 "Absorbing hate and the demands of tennis majors, Jack Draper's growth continues")