"Sooner than later": Ex-coach of Andy Murray predicts Jakub Mensik to compete against top-five including Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz soon

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.

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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.

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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."

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