The ex-coach of the former world number one Andy Roddick,
Rick Macci, has predicted that the Czech Republic’s young tennis sensation,
Jakub Mensik, will be giving a tough time to top-five players ‘sooner than later’. The
19-year-old announced his arrival on the big stage as he defeated the former
world number one and Serbia’s legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic to win the
ATP 1000 title.
The final score of the match was 7-6, 7-6. While doing so,
he became the first player from the Czech Republic to lift an ATP 1000 title in
two decades. During his route to the triumph, Mensik defeated the 2024 US Open
runner-up, Taylor Fritz, in the semifinal with a score of 7-6, 6-4, 7-6. The
Prostejov-born star’s journey in the competition started with a tough encounter
as he got the better of Britain’s Jack Draper 7-6, 7-6.
In a post on his official account on the social media platform X—previously known as Twitter—Macci praised Mensik for his performances
and predicted that the youngster has all the tools to give a tough time to
players like
Jannik Sinner and
Carlos Alcaraz in the near future.
“Huge upside with huge serve. The leg drive innates the
racquet at the right time and the angle of decent of serve is coming in with
mustard from a launched and elevated 6 ft 4 frame to a spot. Jacob will be
CZECKING Carlos and Jannik and the top 5 sooner than later. @JacobMensik,” he
wrote.
After clinching the win, Mensik admitted that it was the ‘biggest
day of his life’. "To be honest I don't know what to say. It feels
incredible, obviously," said Mensik. "It was probably the biggest day
of my life and I did super, which I'm really glad [about], to show the
performance and keep the nerves outside of the court before the match. I feel
just super happy and I think that the feelings will come later. It was not the
first time I've played against Novak. There is no harder task in tennis than to
beat him in the finals. But of course I felt really great and it's my time, so
I just tried to focus on the match like I did before in previous rounds."