A year ago, Jakub Mensik was still a teenager, largely unknown, having barely cracked the ATP’s Top 50. He made a small splash in the Australian Open by upsetting the sixth seed Casper Ruud and, just two months later, made a much bigger one in winning the prestigious Miami Open.
In Florida he upset four top-20 players, most notably taking two tiebreakers from Jack Draper early, two more from Taylor Fritz in the semifinals and two more in the finals from his idol, Novak Djokovic.
“He was remarkably clutch,” said Jimmy Arias, director of player development at IMG Academy. “When you get on the brink a lot of people get ahead of themselves. But he was playing perhaps the greatest player of all time, and he won all the big points.”
That triumph catapulted Mensik to the No. 24 singles player in the world; by May he was the youngest in the Top 20.
“The thing that worries me slightly is that he didn’t build on that win over the rest of the year,” Arias said; injuries to Mensik’s knee and foot slowed his progress, but Mensik said he was healthy and ready for 2026. “We’ll see if he got bigger and stronger this off-season,” Arias said.
The ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe said young players were still growing and adjusting to the intensity of life on the tour. “But he’s pretty athletic and strikes me as diligent, so there’s a good chance he’ll get that cleaned up.”
The 6-foot-5 Czech knows of the need to step up his strength and conditioning.
“For me, it’s the most important thing,” he said in a phone interview from Sydney, Australia, before competing in the United Cup there this month. “I’m playing with the big guys now, but I’m still 20 years old and so my body is still growing, and I need to adapt.”
Armed with a big serve that earns him plenty of easy points and a dangerous backhand, Mensik has enough potential, McEnroe said, that he should be headed for the Top 10, adding, “he strikes me as a guy who could play well at the Australian Open.”
Mensik, who comes across as confident but not cocky, knows his serve and mental toughness give him an advantage in tiebreakers and other big moments. Whenever he lost last year, Mensik said, “I’d try to take the good things from the match, but also find the ways I can do better, because I can improve every match.”
Arias said he would like to see more consistency, and McEnroe said specifically, “I’d like to see his forehand get a little more reliable. He likes to slap at it, and I’d like to see more spin so it’s more measured.”
While Mensik beat fellow sluggers Ben Shelton and Jack Draper, he lost multiple times to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Alex de Minaur, two excellent defenders who move well. “He’s a work in progress,” McEnroe said about Mensik, “but some of those improvements will come from better fitness and more experience.”
Mensik agreed with their analysis, saying that winning longer base-line rallies was a priority this year. He believed better fitness would aid him there, but added, “I’ve also been working on some technical and tactical ways to improve.”
His success last year has created expectations in the sport, but he embraces that.
“I’m in a very different position than last year, but I’m actually not feeling any pressure,” Mensik said, adding that off the court, he liked to relax with his girlfriend and his friends from back home, although he also challenged himself to learn new things, like new languages so he could better communicate with people on the tour.
His goals for 2026 include trying to improve “in tennis, but also as a person.” As for specific hopes and dreams, he has those too, but he was not sharing.
“Of course, I have my own goals,” he said with a small laugh, “but I will keep those for myself.”
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