It’s safe to say that Alexander Bublik was impressed with Jakub Mensik’s level in their fourth-round match at the Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday afternoon.
Mensik, the reigning Miami champion, extended his Masters 1000 winning streak to nine matches by beating Bublik 6-3, 6-2 in a mere 56 minutes. The 19-year-old Czech fired 10 aces and did not get broken a single time. He becomes the fifth teenager in Madrid Masters history to reach the quarterfinals, joining Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Denis Shapovalov, and Carlos Alcaraz.
During a changeover midway through the second set, Bublik remarked on his opponent’s skill to chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani.
During the post-match handshake, Bublik told Mohamed, “he’s so good.”
Mensik will meet Francisco Cerundolo in a somewhat surprising quarterfinal contest on Wednesday after the Argentine upset No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev 7-5, 6-3. Cerundolo is now 3-0 lifetime in the head-to-head series.
Grigor Dimitrov, Alex de Minaur, Jack Draper, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, and Gabriel Diallo also advanced earlier on Tuesday after play in Madrid was cancelled on Monday due to a nationwide power outage in Spain and Portugal.
nice one, Frank