Fresh face Jakub Mensik has captured the attention of the tennis world with a run to the final of his third ATP tour-level tournament in Doha. He will face Russian veteran and No. 2 seed Karen Khachanov.
Jakub Mensik is about to take the tennis world by storm. Or more precisely, he has already begun to do just that. The 18 year-old was 5-2 lifetime in professional tennis matches at the ATP level going into Doha. He now has a crack at a title in his third try out. And while it might seem that he has come out of nowhere, he gave us a glimpse of possible stardom at the Australian Open already in January.
The teen made it through three rounds of qualifying, took out Denis Shapovalov in the first round, and then pushed Hubert Hurkacz to five sets in the second before finally succumbing to the Pole. But even still, his run this week is just flat out impressive. Wins over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (No. 5 seed), Andy Murray, Andrey Rublev (No. 1), and Gael Monfils set up a showdown with Karen Khachanov.
Khachanov’s run to the final was nowhere near the gauntlet that Mensik had to complete. As the No. 2 seed, Khachanov had a first round bye–and then nearly a walkover in the quarters due to a retirement at 3-0 in the first set by Emil Ruusuvuori. If this was a contest of which player is fresher, Khachanov would win hands down. But it isn’t.
Even Mensik’s ranking of No. 116 says very little, since he certainly isn’t playing like a player ranked outside the top 100. Expect this one to go the distance. The crowd is likely to get behind the underdog (Mensik) right from the start. Khachanov is a composed player and the cheering shouldn’t bother him much, but the Czech just has more momentum.
Cheryl pick: Mensik in 3
Ricky pick: Mensik in 3
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Mensik has had an amazing week…but Knov in 3.
WWW?
So far, Khachanov is keeping up with young Mensik.
I did vote for Khachanov in 3.
Come on, Karen!
I hope Mensik isn’t playing Dubai; he needs a rest until at least IW.
Mensik is in the main draw, and Coric will be his first scalp 😀
A guy like Mensik, I reckon, has a fast recovery time, but I only have him winning one round, which is too conservative. Where he’s at, he is only one more win (probably vs. Davidovich Fokina) away from Medvedev! That thought could be tempting to Mensik.
Not that fast. He’s still growing at 18 and needs rest. He should build on that performance and be good to himself. You also send a message when you choose to rest for bigger events. IW or Miami should be the next event for Mensik.