Miami champ Jakub Mensik becomes fifth teen into Madrid quarterfinals

Jakub Mensik joined an elite club at the Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday when he became only the fifth teenager to reach the quarterfinals at the Caja Magica.

The 19-year-old rolled into the last eight in straight sets over Alexander Bublik, not only following in the footsteps of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Denis Shapovalov, and Carlos Alcaraz, but also building on an already impressive season highlighted by his Masters 1000 victory at the Miami Open.

Not bad for a guy still ranked outside the Top 20.

“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised by the success,” Mensik said in an interview for the ATP website. “But before the season started, I set a goal to break into the Top 30 this year. It’s April and I’m already No. 23 so I have achieved that aim. Last year I set my goals and once again I had reached them by February.”

Mensik could make his Top 20 debut with a strong result this week. Yet to drop a set in Madrid with prior wins over Americans Ethan Quinn and Ben Shelton, he left Bublik feeling wistful in a telling changeover conversation with chair umpire Mohamed Layhani:

“Remember when tennis was easy, huh?” asked the 27-year-old Kazakh, himself a former Madrid quarterfinalist. “Like five years ago, it was super easy to play tennis. You had a bunch of random people in the Top 50, barely moving. Now this guy’s not even Top 5, not even Top 10!”

Bublik went on to lose, 6-3, 6-2, putting his Czech opponent on a collision course with top seed Alexander Zverev, who will later face No. 20 seed Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round.

Into his third career Masters 1000 quarterfinal, Mensik is only competing his second tournament since Miami. His initial follow-up came in Munich, where he lost in three sets to Yannick Hanfmann—a dip in form he hopes to avoid as he continues gaining experience.

It is my second year on the Tour and I am very young and the newcomer. Playing against the best players in the world is always what I wanted and now I can see I can compete against them, beat them consistently, it is something I like. Jakub Mensik

“I am still 19 and still learning a lot of things,” he told the ATP. “It is my second year on the Tour and I am very young and the newcomer. Playing against the best players in the world is always what I wanted and now I can see I can compete against them, beat them consistently, it is something I like.”

Mensik was rock solid against both Bublik and Shelton, breaking two of the game’s biggest servers a combined seven times to earn his biggest result thus far on clay.

All of this is simply part of the plan for the 6’4” Mensik, who confidently promised his Miami title—which saw him score victories over BNP Paribas Open Jack Draper, No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz, and the one-and-only Novak Djokovic—was only “the first of many.”

“It’s just the beginning,” Mensik reaffirmed. “I know there’s a lot more to come if I keep working the same way. If I keep giving 100 per cent.”