Jakub Mensik advanced to the Roland Garros semi-finals for the first time in his career after defeating Joao Fonseca on Tuesday evening.
Mensik proved too strong for the Brazilian starlet, winning 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
It was an incredibly impressive performance by the Czech star, who will play Alexander Zverev for a spot in the Roland Garros final.
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Mensik dealt with an injury scare during Tuesday’s contest. Despite this concern, he was able to maintain an ice-cool composure throughout, silencing the Brazilian fans watching from the stands.
John McEnroe, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, was left particularly impressed by Mensik’s performance in the French capital.
John McEnroe praises Jakub Mensik’s ‘fight’ vs Joao Fonseca
“He [Mensik] showed a lot to a lot of people, including myself,” McEnroe admitted during his post-match analysis on TNT Sports.
“I have not seen this, this fight, this will, this heart that he has shown in this tournament.
“The skill has been there, it’s coming together in a beautiful way now. He is going to be a force in this game.
“What a talent this is!
“He is a big man who has tremendous skill. He is willing to move forward. He can do anything. And he moves really well.
“Fonseca, I think he ran out of gas a little bit, but God bless him as well.”
McEnroe then looked ahead to the grass-court season, assessing what both Mensik and Fonseca could achieve at Wimbledon.
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What a match!
As identified by McEnroe, Mensik’s powerful, high velocity game is more suited to the grass courts than Fonseca’s is at this stage in both players’ careers
“He is a work in progress for me. I think he has got to learn,” the American said of Fonseca’s Wimbledon chances.
“For me Mensik is a more natural, skilful grass court player at this time. But Fonseca is learning fast and he will adapt and figure it out.”
Mensik, the 26th seed in Paris, is set to play Alexander Zverev for the second time in three months.
In April, Zverev defeated the Czech star 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 in the Madrid Open fourth round.
Zverev will once again be the favourite heading into Friday’s semi-final contest against Mensik.
The German second seed is the overwhelming favourite to win his first Grand Slam title following the early exits of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
“Zverev is going to go into the semi as a heavy favourite for sure,” McEnroe concluded on TNT. “But he is going to have to watch out.”
Jakub Mensik makes Czech tennis history
As per statisticians OptaAce, Jakub Mensik has become the youngest Czech player in the Open Era to reach a Men’s Singles semi-final at a Grand Slam.
Mensik, who was aged 20 years and 265 days when the tournament began last Sunday, has eclipsed Ivan Lendl’s 1981 feat.
Lendl, a seven-time major winner, was aged 21 years and 79 days at the start of the 1981 French Open.
Lendl went on to reach the final, before losing to Swedish great Bjorn Borg in five sets.
Jakub Mensik now has the opportunity to become the first Czech player to reach the Roland Garros final since Petr Korda in 1992.
Korda, the 1998 Australian Open champion, was defeated by Jim Courier in the 1992 Roland Garros final.
Ivan Lendl remains the last Czech man to win Roland Garros. He did so on three occasions: in 1984, 1986 and 1987.
