Player description
Date of birth: September 1, 2005
Place of birth: Prostejov, Czechia
Nationality: Czech
Plays: Right-handed
Height: 6’4″ (193cm)
Career-high ranking: 48
Best Grand Slam performance: US Open 2024 3R, US Open 2023 3R
Style and personality:
Mensik, who began playing tennis at the age of 5 on courts in front of his family house, has an aggressive playing style, built around a powerful serve. The Czech, who idolized Novak Djokovic, also has a great drop shot in his arsenal, showing he can mix power and finesse on the court. His coach, Tomas Josefus, who first met Mensik when he was eight, described Mensik’s style of play as “an aggressive baseliner for sure. His game style is really aggressive and is trying to put pressure on his opponent with taking time away. That’s probably the signature of Jakub’s game. He has a big serve and big return.”
Career
Mensik advanced to the third round of the 2023 US Open as a qualifier, becoming the youngest player to reach the third round at a Major since Rafael Nadal at the 2004 Australian Open. He then broke into the Top 100 in the world rankings after making his way to the final in Doha in February 2024, scoring wins over Andy Murray, Gael Monfils and Andrey Rublev. The Czech broke into the world’s top 50 by October of the same year when he reached his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final in Shanghai and qualified for the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals at the end of the season.