The 20-year-old Czech player Jakub Mensik reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros, defeating fellow teenager João Fonseca 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7-3) in a tense quarterfinal encounter. Mensik will face second seed Alexander Zverev in the semifinals, according to reporting from The Times of India.
How did Mensik reach the semifinal?
Mensik advanced through a gruelling fortnight marked by physical and mental tests. In his second-round match against Mariano Navone, he required seven match points and more than four-and-a-half hours in brutal heat before prevailing 13-11 in a fifth-set tiebreak, according to ausopen.com. He then defeated No. 8 seed Alex de Minaur and survived Andrey Rublev in five sets to reach the quarterfinals.
Against Fonseca, Mensik again faced adversity, missing six match points in the third set before composing himself in the tiebreak to seal victory. "Even after those match points when I didn't manage to take them, when I was 6-5 up, I'm happy that… I stayed mentally focused and calm and managed to level up my game in the tiebreak and be the one who managed to take it," Mensik said, according to ausopen.com.
Who is Mensik's semifinal opponent?
Alexander Zverev, the second seed and 2024 French Open finalist, produced a dominant display to defeat 19-year-old Spaniard Rafael Jodar 7-6(7-3), 6-1, 6-3 in his quarterfinal. Zverev was pushed hard in the opening set, trailing 2-5 while facing a set point, but recovered to take control and complete the victory in two hours and 17 minutes, according to The Times of India.
What does this mean for Mensik's ranking?
Mensik's run propels him from 27th to 16th in the ATP live rankings, according to ausopen.com. The result marks his best Grand Slam performance and continues a breakthrough 2026 campaign that began when he won the Miami Open as a 19-year-old, defeating Novak Djokovic in the final. He became the first Czech man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon in 2017.
The semifinal is scheduled for the coming days at Roland Garros.
Sources
- ausopen.com: Resilient Mensik into first Grand Slam semifinal. Matt Trollope, 3 June 2026.
- The Times of India: Jakub Mensik reaches first Grand Slam semifinal, set to face Zverev at Roland Garros. 3 June 2026.
- World Tennis Magazine: Just Who Is Jakub Mensik?. 3 June 2026.
Reported from public sources.