“1st of many.”
That was Jakub Mensik's message to the tennis world, scrawled across a courtside camera lens after the 19-year-old Czech broke through for his maiden tour-level title in March at the Miami Open.
To secure the coveted ATP Masters 1000 crown, Mensik had to overcome his childhood hero, Novak Djokovic, in the final—as well as a nearly six-hour rain delay. The 7-6(4), 7-6(4) masterpiece made him the second-youngest tournament titlist ever behind only Carlos Alcaraz, who lifted the trophy as an 18-year-old in 2022.
“He’s one of the very few players that I would be happier to lose to, to be honest,” said Djokovic, a six-time Miami champ. “I saw him play when he was 15 or 16. We had some training blocks together. He was training at my club in Belgrade, and to see his development and evolution is really great, amazing. I could see already that he was going to be one of the top players of the world.”
“It was probably the biggest day of my life,” said the former junior world No. 2 Mensik, who rocketed to No. 24 in the ATP rankings behind that run and has since climbed inside the Top 20.
A rising star with room to grow
Mensik is blessed with a complete game: A powerful, precise first serve that earns him many a free point; a solid forehand; a lethal ‘Czech school’ backhand a la 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych; and surprising movement for a 6-foot-5 big man.
But, as we saw this spring and summer during the clay- and grass-court campaigns, where Mensik often struggled to find his best form, there’s still ample room for improvement.
The good news is that, as one of just three teens in the Top 100 (with Brazil’s Joao Fonseca and American Learner Tien), he’s got years ahead of him in which to do so.
“It was my one-year anniversary on tour in Doha, playing just ATP tournaments,” he said. “I have quite a few matches behind me, but I’m still the ‘young gun,’ the guy who wants to go through, to push up the rankings. Now I know what to expect. For me, it’s an advantage compared to last year. But I’m 19, competing with much older guys. I haven’t played that many matches against guys my age.”
Czech it out
Mensik and his countrymen are in a good place. There are currently three Czechs in the Top 30: Mensik, Tomas Machac (who also claimed his first title in 2025, the ATP 500 stop in Acapulco) and Jiri Lehecka.
“It’s great. After a long time, Czech tennis has some good young players,” observed Mensik. “We’re all playing Davis Cup together. We’ve known each other for a long time. We push each other forward. Jiri and Tomas are doing great. I can follow in their steps.
“I was the guy who was behind them in the shadows. That’s good—not just for me, for us, but also for Czech tennis.”
Watch: Mensik's win against Felix Auger-Aliassime at the 2024 US Open
Happy and healthy in New York
When he’s healthy, Mensik is a threat on any surface, but especially on cement. As the tour heads toward New York, a city he says is his favorite on the tour, he’ll be eyeing a deep second-week run at the US Open, where in his tour-level debut in 2023 he reached the third round as a qualifier, the youngest man to do so on the Grand Slam stage since Rafael Nadal at the 2004 Australian Open. Mensik reached the third round again last summer in New York.
“There are a lot of challenges throughout the year. The most important one is to be healthy,” he said in Indian Wells. “Last year, during the clay-court season, I was struggling with my elbow. I didn’t play Roland Garros. I wasn’t 100% in Madrid and Rome. I didn’t know what would happen. All of the doctors were saying different things. For me, the biggest challenge was to get rid of this problem. I’m glad that I can play pain-free and without many injuries.”
