Jakub Mensik announced himself, winning the Challenger in Prague at just 17 and taking on Taylor Fritz in the third round at the US Open in front of a big crowd on his 18th birthday (although that match wasn’t exactly a great showcase of his talent). It was always going to be extremely interesting to see what sort of progress he could make in the off-season, but in 2024 it quickly became clear that he was ready for the big leagues.
Jakub Mensik 2024 in Review
Incredible start to the season, top 10 win, ATP Tour final
The Australian summer had brought Mensik success in the juniors (he lost an incredible final at the 2022 Australian Open juniors to Bruno Kuzuhara) and he was now firing Down Under from the very start of the year. A huge win over Brandon Nakashima had him reach the Canberra Challenger final before he drew Nakashima again in the opening round of qualifying in Melbourne. The Czech was much stronger in that power-hitting contest again and eventually improved his Slam qualifying record to 6-0. It was only fatigue that stopped him from pushing Hubert Hurkacz even closer in the second round as he ran out of gas in the last two sets of a brilliant contest.
Another massive step forward for Mensik was the ATP 250 in Doha in February. After surviving a thriller against Andy Murray, he took on Andrey Rublev and defeated him in the quarterfinals for his first top 10 win. It wasn’t just the serving or big ball-striking, it was also the ridiculous quality he showed in his movement and defense around the court. Despite his loss to Karen Khachanov in the final, everybody was now talking about this up-and-coming talent from the Czech Republic.
Nightmare for Rublev and Dimitrov, US Open missed opportunity
It was a spring to forget from the teenager with a few injuries (despite a great win over Grigor Dimitrov in Madrid), but he started picking up some steam after Wimbledon. First it was a semifinal appearance in Umag, then a routine victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime at the US Open. That event should have ended with Mensik into his maiden second week of a Slam, but he wasted three match points against Nuno Borges and had to leave New York with plenty of regrets.
The Czech had one more peak in 2024 with back-to-back quarterfinals in Shanghai and Vienna. Rublev and Dimitrov fell victim to his game again in the former event with only Novak Djokovic and Alex de Minaur being able to stop him during this stretch. Overall this season further showed how well-balanced Mensik’s game can be in the future. Compared to some of the other most talented up-and-comers like Arthur Fils, Ben Shelton, or Joao Fonseca, he is much better at extending points and probably won’t be suffering from the same inconsistency issues.
Expectations for 2025 will be big as Mensik’s game will probably be coming together even further. It feels like achieving stabilisation in his tennis and results is pretty close and it soon might be more of a question of how high his peak can be. Before the Czech kicks off his year in Australia, he’s still scheduled to make an appearance at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah (18-22 December).
Main photo credit: Andy Abeyta/Desert Sun/USAToday Network
