Mensik: I got a message from an unknown number and it was Djokovic. He was incredible to me, I was a little nervous at first

Jakub Mensik is a great hope of Czech tennis. the 16-year-old talent reached the final of the Australian Open, where he fought to the end despite huge cramps. In Melbourne he was noticed by Novak Djokovic, who subsequently invited him to Belgrade to train with him. The young tennis player talked about his stay with the world number one in an interview with Ruik.cz.

What was your reaction when you got the message from Novak?

I just had a meeting with my coach where we evaluated Australia. Suddenly a message beeped from an unknown number, so I looked at it as a joke and there was Novak Djokovic talking to me (laughs). I immediately showed it to my coach and we both looked at each other and didn’t understand what was going on. It was only when we realised who it was that we thought it was something amazing.

How was training with Novak? How was it different from your training?

Training with Novak is a little bit different pace and intensity than other training sessions. It took me a while to get into a rhythm with him, but luckily it was almost immediate, it was a bit of a habit. His quality is incredible, as far as some of the irregular exercises go, he’s just a master at that. If I were to compare it to other training sessions, his professional approach is great, he leaves nothing to chance, he takes everything honestly and goes all out on every ball.

Were you more nervous during training? For example, were you more careful not to mess up your strokes to show off?

In the beginning, when I played the first few balls, there was quite a lot of nervousness (smile). But of course I knew it was just a practice, it’s not a match, so it didn’t come down to me breaking down and just playing into the net or into the net. Then I got into the rhythm and I was playing a normal practice, just with a player like that.

Novak is known to be a hard worker and he is very versatile on the court. Still, is there anything that surprised you the most about him?

I don’t know if I’m completely surprised, although I guess you could say that. It’s his team of people who treat each other like family, they all have the same heart, they all go hard for their goal. He wants to get better all the time. Even though he’s already won 20 grand slams and he’s the best player today, he’s still looking for something to improve on. That’s what keeps him at the top.

How is Novak in training? Is he totally focused or is he relaxed and maybe joking around?

Novak is a bit moody in training, so to speak. On one side, he’s taking it honestly, but when he plays a trickshot, he’ll throw in a joke. But other than that, he’s totally honest, he’s going to give it 100 percent, no matter who’s on the other side.

Can you describe what a day was like for Novak?

I was with him for three whole days. Our training started at 11 a.m., I was already at the facility by 9:30. I had physiotherapists or tests from him with a conditioning coach. At 10 we started our warm-up, which lasted 45 minutes to an hour. Then practice started and we trained for about an hour and a half. He’s now having a tune-up period before the tournament, so he only had one phase. After training, it was straight into the gym where the first part of the conditioning was done.

Then there was a break for lunch. In the afternoon Novak went for the second part of the conditioning, I had the second phase of tennis with my coach. This was followed by stretching, a trot and recovery.

You will gradually move from the junior to the adult category. Can you imagine what it would feel like to compete against him as an opponent on the courtin a few years ?

It would definitely be something incredible because he has been my role model since I was a kid. The first step was to meet him and become friends. Now I can’t imagine playing a tough match with him in a few years (smiles). But it would definitely be interesting.

You yourself work with a mental coach. Have you talked to Novak about this side besides the tennis side?

Novak and I talked about everything, but we didn’t go into any minor details. But in Belgrade, my mental coach was with me and talked about it with him, but I wasn’t there. Novak knows that I’m working on that side of things and he said it’s one of the things that’s very important for tennis, so he appreciated it.

Were there any signs of recent events on Novak, did that come up between you guys?

No, not at all, that’s in the past for him. He was focused on his training, on what’s in front of him and on me.

I heard you were surprised at Novak’s attitude towards you. I guess you didn’t expect that from a world number one.

It’s true, I honestly thought at first how cool it was that he invited me to come there, play with him for maybe half an hour and then get another sparring partner. But when I got there he said hello and that we were going to play right away, I did everything with him from warm-ups to recovery. I really thought that I was just going to come there to play with someone else, that I was going to practice at the tennis center and he was just going to come and say hello. But it wasn’t like that at all, I did all the training with him, which was something amazing and a huge experience for me.

Going back to the Australian Open, what was going through your mind when you got the cramps? Were you thinking about calling it quits or were you clear that you wanted to finish the match at all costs?

When the cramps started at about 4:4, I kept playing, but I had to give my legs a little longer break. The big cramps came at 5::6 and 30::30, when I was already in the heat of battle and wanted to win every ball. I wasn’t thinking about quitting the match, but rather thinking about how I could still turn the match around. Until the last ball, I tried to find some way to win the match, but my physicality didn’t allow me to do that anymore.

Can you mention something from Novak’s preparation that you liked and will incorporate into your own?

What I liked most about him was how he pays attention to all the things off the court in terms of warm-up, breathing and preparation. What I would fault though is the recovery, that was something incredible. Up until now, I had no idea what kind of recovery ability he had. The gadgets and equipment he had in there, it was unbelievable. He has a game based on movement and flexibility and he has to take care of his body. The ability to regenerate that we had there and what he does every day, that was very surprising to me.

Source: Jakub Menšík, Mariana Pohlová