Year of fulfilled wishes of Jakub Menšík. He triumphed four times in the adult category

Tennis player Jakub Menšík will probably not forget the year that has just ended. It started with the participation in the final of the junior category of the Australian Open, followed by a phone call and training with Jakub’s idol and former world number one Novak Djokovic, and all culminated in winning four titles in the men’s category, three of them in a row. But in quick succession.

At the Australian Open, Jakub Mensik was literally one step away from victory. An extremely exciting match lasted an incredible 3 hours and 43 minutes. Due to severe thigh muscle cramps, Jakub had to concede the title to the number one player in the tournament, American Bruno Kuzuhar. But thanks to his great fighting spirit, Jakub Mensik became the winner for many fans and sports experts.

His great success was also noticed by (at that time) world tennis number one Novak Djokovic. In addition to personal greetings, Jakub’s entire team was invited to Djokovic’s renowned tennis centre in Belgrade. For five days, Prostejov’s ward was able to train regularly with Djokovic and also to use all the services from conditioning exercises to physiotherapy to regeneration.

“Thanks to this, I was able to take a look under the hood of his training programme. There was nothing that he didn’t answer,” praised Jakub Mensik, who was one of the few Czechs to get close to the world champion.

Four valuable titles in three months

This year, 17-year-old Jakub Mensik decided to enter the men’s category for good. In April he took part in the ATP250 qualification tournament in Belgrade, and in June he won the doubles event at the ITF15 tournament in Bytom, Poland.

Four challengers followed, with him reaching the semi-finals in Prague. In August, in Allerhausen, Germany, he defeated Peter Heller 7:5, 3:6 and 6:1.

He also confirmed his exceptional form this year in November in Heraklion, Greece, at the $25,000 IFT25 tournament. Although he was not a seeded player and was not among the favourites, he managed to defeat the tournament’s number eight Olexandr Ovcharenko from Ukraine in the final in two sets 6::4, 7::6 (4).

Soon afterwards he had to quickly acclimatize to the conditions in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. He lost only one set in the ITF15 tournament and won the final against Purtseladz of Georgia 6: 4, 6: 2. He remained in place the following week as the second seeded player and once again delivered a perfect performance.

In the final he didn’t give the first seeded player Robert Strombachs from Latvia much chance and won against him in two sets 6: 4, 6: 0. This was his fourth ITF victory of the year. His winning streak now stands at 15 matches.

Jakub Mensik is currently ranked 449th in the ATP rankings (as of December 5, 2022) and will improve his ranking next week. In his age group, he is only half a year ahead of China’s Junzheng Shang, who is 194th in the ATP rankings.

It wouldn’t have been possible without the support of

Jakub Mensik’s tennis star is on the rise. But the promising player is well aware that success doesn’t come by itself. In addition to hard training and high self-discipline, a well-rounded team and family support play an important role.

“I would like to thank my family, my team members, especially coach Tomáš Josefus, mental coach Dragan Vujović, fitness coach Honza Pospíšil, coach Robert Rumler and my club in Prostějov. I know that thanks to their support I am where I am. And I can continue to fulfill my dreams,” says Jakub Menšík.

Jakub Menšík’s other plans

“The tennis season is slowly coming to an end for me now. Next week, I’ll be playing in the tennis extra league for the first time. However, I am not only playing tennis, but I am also studying at the Gymnasium Jiří Wolker in Prostějov, where I am fulfilling my individual education plan. Before the preparation for the new season begins, I have to pass the necessary exams and tests. School comes first in December,” says Jakub Menšík.

“During the Christmas holidays and at the turn of the year, I will again devote myself fully to tennis preparation and in the new year I would like to try to measure my strength against opponents in ATP Challenger tournaments. My goal is to push my game to a higher level,” adds Jakub Menšík.