Jakub Mensik appeared to be struggling physically during his Roland Garros semi-final against Alexander Zverev.
Mensik had suffered physical issues throughout his best ever Grand Slam run at Roland Garros this year, including being unable to move after having full body cramps in his second round win.
Despite this, the Czech was still able to make it to the semi-finals in Paris, before Mensik lost to Zverev 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Mensik took a medical timeout due to a neck issue in the third set, and he has now provided an update on the injury.
Jakub Mensik confirms neck issue is ‘nothing serious’
Mensik appeared to be fading physically after losing the first two sets, but after receiving medical intervention was able to break Zverev’s serve for the first time and take the third set.
The 20-year-old could not keep his resurgence going into the fourth set, and after Mensik lost to Zverev he was asked about his injury.
Mensik confirmed that neck stiffness prohibited his movement, but he claimed that it was nothing to worry about.
“First two sets, it was really tough for me,” Mensik said in his post-match press conference. “Like I said, to find the rhythm, to find myself on court physically and mentally as well.
“Sascha is a guy who’s not giving you any rhythm, so long between the rallies and I struggled to find the great rhythm and to find my zone. I couldn’t do it those two sets, which obviously leads to a little bit of drop off in energy.
“Physically I would say, of course it’s a long tournament, I recovered well in those two days, but still during the match I felt like my neck was getting stiffer.
“I wouldn’t say it’s an injury or something that will get me out for a long time, but it was at that moment I felt like it didn’t allow me to do some movements, so I would say it was a little discomfort during the match, but yeah it was nothing serious and it’s going to be okay.”
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Jakub Mensik says what positives he is taking from Roland Garros this year
Although he was unable to play in the way that he would have liked to in his semi-final against Zverev, Mensik has many more positives to take from Roland Garros this year after reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final.
“It’s just a couple of minutes after the match, so of course I’m still in there, but after a couple of hours I will look at it from a different point of view,” said Mensik. “Right now when I think about these two weeks, one match that I lost, there are many more positives.
“First of all, super happy that I could reach the semi-finals, that I could beat a lot of top players and actually there were a lot of tough moments where it was basically already done for me, but I stood up and I kept fighting, and kept finding a way to win.
“Also, when the momentum was on my side and I was in a good shape, I showed my best what’s in me, so a lot of stories these two weeks.
“When I’m talking about it and keeping this rhythm these two weeks, it’s super, super tough and especially in a Grand Slam playing with top, top players, especially for me as it’s my first time and a lot of things happened the first time, so I’m happy that I manage it quite well and I will take it as a great tournament.”
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One of the biggest positives for Mensik is that he will now return to the top 20 in the ATP rankings after reaching the Roland Garros semi-final, and is also seventh in the race.
Mensik was scheduled to compete at the Stuttgart Open next week, but both he and Zverev have withdrawn from the ATP 250 tournament on grass.
He will now begin his grass court season at the Queen’s Club Championships, which is set to be Mensik’s only tournament ahead of Wimbledon this year.
