Jakub Mensik became the youngest Czech man to reach a Grand Slam semi-final after a 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(3) victory over Brazil’s Joao Fonseca in an absorbing French Open quarter-final that showcased two of the sport’s brightest young talents.
The 20-year-old Czech remained calm and clinical throughout, holding off a spirited late surge from the 19-year-old Brazilian to close out the match in two hours and 44 minutes, and now goes on to face number two seed Alexander Zverev for a place in Sunday’s final.
“The last game and the tie-break were some of my best performances so far,” Mensik said. “It was really tough to stay focused until the end. I’m happy I managed to come back in the tie-break and still move my game a little forward.”
Mensik, who beat Novak Djokovic in the Miami 1000 final last year, broke early in the first set when Fonseca sprayed a trio of forehand errors and backed up his own service games by winning 83% of first-serve points.
He broke again in the second to take control of the contest, mixing up measured aggression from the baseline along with deft delicate touches at the net, as well as moving around the court with remarkable ease. He stunned the crowd multiple times by chasing drop shots for winners.
But in the third set, Fonseca – who had spent more than 14 hours on court en route to the quarter-finals including a five-set comeback against Novak Djokovic – trademark fire returned and he broke to go ahead 2-0 and held until 5-3 but could not close it out at 5-4.
Thereafter followed the best phase of the match when Fonseca saved six match points in the 5-6 game before finally securing the game to the delight of the crowd to enter the tie-break. But Mensik’s big serve was just too much in the end as he reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time in his young career.
“We both started a little bit nervous, and then at the end there were some incredible points,” said Mensik. “I’m super happy that I managed to stay focused, stay in the match, and keep fighting till the end. João is one of the greatest on tour, incredible from the baseline. Today wasn’t about who hits harder—it was about opening the court, coming forward, mixing it up.”
Fonseca also put out two-time finalist Casper Ruud earlier in the tournament to climb five places in the rankings, while Mensik, who is now inside the World’s Top 20, will look to overcome a 0-1 head-to-head record against the vastly more experienced Zverev on Friday.
