Joao Fonseca? Well, Jakub Mensik doesn’t want to be left behind when it comes to unearthing the Australian Open revelation. Although on a different scale, of course.
The young Joao Fonseca, aged 18 (112th in the ATP ranking), and Jakub Mensik, aged 19 (48th), have reached a stage that is both curious and promising.
These two young Tennis hopefuls managed to eliminate, without any player under 20 and in the same Grand Slam tournament, two players ranked among the 10 best in the world. This feat has not been seen since Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray achieved it at Wimbledon in 2006.
Mensik has his reasons: “I feel good. I knew before the match that it would be difficult. It’s never easy to play against one of the best on the circuit, especially in a Grand Slam, in the best of five sets, ” he declared after his victory against Casper Ruud (6th).
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“I am happy with the performance I showed; I am happy that I stayed focused and maintained this level throughout the match. This is not the first time that I have played a match at the best of times. five sets, and Casper isn’t much older,” he added modestly.
But what about the new generation? He said: “We young players push ourselves to reach a high level. For example, Jannik and Carlos were teenagers a few years ago. We try to find the opportunity to get closer to them, to follow in their footsteps and compete with them I’m able to aim for this level, to continue to improve. It’s fantastic to see new faces, we see tennis evolving with different names. ” he emphasized.
Is there a domino effect? “Tennis is an individual sport. When you see players from your generation or your country improving, it pushes you to move forward. For me, Tomas (Machac) and Jiri (Lehecka) inspire me to progress; they “I get better every tournament, every year. Next Gen players like Joao, Alex (Michelsen), and all the others help me too,” he admitted.
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