ITF Class of 2022: Jakub Mensik | ITF
Article 09 Dec 2022

ITF Class of 2022: Jakub Mensik

Ross McLean

09 Dec 2022

The ITF’s ‘Class of…’ series recognises and celebrates players who have had a successful year on the ITF World Tennis Tour, identifying the year’s most promising and breakthrough talents, and those predicted to go on to bigger and better things next year.

In a recent ‘Get to Know’ interview with itftennis.com, Czech Republic’s Jakub Mensik revealed that he is an illusionist, however it is the on-court magic he is now conjuring which has left onlookers wowed.

The 17-year-old has been in blistering form in recent weeks, topping the podium at three successive tournaments to take his season’s tally of ITF World Tennis Tour titles to a hugely impressive four. He is also currently on a 15-match winning streak.

Such form sees Mensik surge into the ITF’s season-ending Class of 2022, which recognises and celebrates players who have had productive years on the ITF World Tennis Tour, and those to keep a close eye on next season.

It has very much been a campaign to savour, but more about that later. In the first instance, a little more attention needs to be given to Mensik the magician, while another little-known fact is that he also has a penchant for playing the drums.

“I have enjoyed magic since I was little,” Mensik told itftennis.com. “I liked magicians, and I liked watching them at various events and on YouTube.

"I started trying close-up magic, mostly with cards, and I enjoyed it a lot, while I also liked the reaction of my friends. Maybe the movie Now You See Me played a role in this.

“In terms of playing drums, I always wanted to learn a musical instrument and was inspired by Petr Cech, Czech Republic’s famous goalkeeper, who can play the drums. My dad encouraged me to give it a try and now I am a self-taught player. I’m not bad at all.

“I just like learning new things. The magic and drums I take more as relaxation when I’m at home. Both help me forget about tennis for a while and relax in a different way than being on my phone.”

It is perhaps also worth noting that Mensik has an interesting superstition. Should he win his first-round match at an event, he and his coach, Tomas Josefus, repeat the same daily routine throughout the tournament.

“The last time, my coach spilled his coffee at breakfast, so he had to do that every day until the end,” said Prostejov-born Mensik. “As you can imagine, we have a lot of fun.”

Spilling coffee or otherwise, the ritual is working wonders with Mensik virtually unstoppable in recent weeks after triumphing at M25 Heraklion – the biggest title of his career – in mid-November and then at back-to-back M15 Sharm El-Sheikh events.

This follows a maiden professional crown at M15 Allershausen in September, although according to Mensik the seeds for this victory – and all that has followed – were sewn a week earlier when he received a wild card to the Prague Challenger.

“In Prague, I was in very good shape, and everything worked for me there,” added Mensik. “I believed in myself and reached the semi-finals. It was the turning point for me in the transition from juniors to men’s tennis.

“I then left for Allershausen with great self-confidence and in excellent form. I believed I could beat anyone, and I went for the win. It probably sounds very confident but in Germany I was getting euphoric round by round and believed I could win.

“I was incredibly happy after the victory and I proved to myself that I have what it takes to play against professional players. I look back on the season I have had and it has been very, very successful and exceeded my expectations.

“I wouldn’t change anything about it. I have great satisfaction and to be a member of the ITF’s Class of 2022 is a great honour for me as this is the first international recognition I have received for my work and my results.”

There are other reasons why 2022 will live long in the memory of this hugely ambitious yet grounded individual.

“I will remember this season for the rest of my life because it gave me the opportunity to meet my tennis role model, Novak Djokovic, with whom I had the opportunity to train with several times,” added Mensik.

“He gave me a lot of valuable advice and examples from his beginnings in the game. I was very inspired by how he constantly works on himself and wants to improve.

“I always wanted to play big tournaments with the best players like Novak. When I wish for something, I focus on it and do everything to make it come true. And right at the beginning of the year, this came true when I played the Australian Open boys’ final

“It was incredible and even though I lost that final, I was strengthened by the experience and felt ready for men’s tennis afterwards.

“When I first started playing men’s tennis, maybe my opponents played worse than the best in juniors, but I ended up losing the match. It is precisely this experience, and a different mentality, that you need in order to figure out how to bring pro matches to a winning end.”

The Australian Open boys' final to which Mensik refers was during his second event of the season and presented the opportunity for him to add a Junior Grand Slam title to his career CV before progressing along the ITF player pathway.

Mensik, who would reach a career-high No. 2 in the junior world rankings, advanced to the final where he lost an epic battle to Bruno Kuzuhara of the United States, double-faulting on match point as severe cramp struck.

“The first moment was a big disappointment because I believed and felt until the last moment that I could win, but the body just failed,” added Mensik.

“However, everything bad is good for something and this experience allowed me to think about other aspects of a professional career, such as tennis-specific fitness, hydration and nutrition.

“It was also great motivation to play in such a final and the Australian Open was one of the greatest experiences of my career so far. I have told myself that one day I want to go back there and finish the job.”

Only time will tell whether Mensik achieves this ambition, but his career would certainly appear to be on an upward trajectory following an exceedingly progressive season. It would be fair to assume that there is more to come from this talented teen. Watch this space.

Coach’s View: Tomas Josefus

“I have a very positive view of the 2022 season.

“To win, a tennis player has to lose many times. That sums up Jakub’s 2022 season exactly as it wasn’t all about wins during the spring and summer. Jakub, however, is an ambitious and hard-working young man and mental resilience is one of his main strengths.

“During any stage of a player’s development, it’s not only about improving or working on one thing, or even improving one component of performance. Jakub’s preparation will therefore continue to be very complex.

“Heading into 2023, we will focus mainly on his strengths and, in the right proportion, also his weaknesses. We will put a lot of emphasis on tennis-specific conditioning and injury prevention.”

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