Who is Jakub Mensik, Novak Djokovic's personal protégé?

In professional tennis, more than in other sports, it's easier to see when a very young player is above average and is destined for a great career.

While most tennis fans have seen some of the biggest stars on the circuit grow up, such as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, it is now time for other young players to emerge and take the tennis world by storm.

Jakub Mensik is undoubtedly one of the most talented and eagerly-awaited players on the entire circuit. Barely 18, the Czech player has shown himself on numerous occasions in recent months, and in a good way.

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If you don't know Mensik, you may remember the final of the 2022 Junior Australian Open, a match in which the Czech lost and had to leave the court... in a wheelchair, per The Sun.

After touring the Future circuit, Mensik showed his worth for the first time in a challenger on home soil, in Prague, in May 2023, winning against Dominik Köpfer, aged just 17.

But it was at the 2023 US Open that the Czech really came into his own, emerging from the qualifiers and eliminating Grégoire Barrère and Titouan Droguet, before finishing his run against Taylor Fritz.

He beat his very first top-10 player, Andrey Rublev, in Doha at the start of 2024, a tournament in which he reached his first final. Two months later, he beat a second top 10 player, Grigor Dimitrov, in Madrid.

The young player progressed rapidly thanks to his talent, but also to the help of Novak Djokovic, from whom the Czech drew a lot of inspiration to reach the highest level.

In an interview with French newspaper L'Équipe, Mensik revealed that he had been contacted by the Serbian star's team just after the 2022 Junior Australian Open, to bring him to Belgrade for a week's training.

"I first thought it was a hoax, but it was really him. Novak is my childhood idol, you can imagine my joy," Mensik said.

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During his week at the side of one of the greats of his sport, Mensik trained no less than twice a day, trying to get as much information as possible about Djokovic's preparations.

He picked up everything he could learn about how to warm up, stretch and prepare himself so that he could "integrate it into his routine".

At the highest level, the small details of preparation and training are the most difficult part of the job, and this is precisely what Mensik has tried to learn from the world number one, in the hope of breaking new ground.

In addition to these minor details, Mensik now has a Serbian physiotherapist by the name of Sasa Jezdic on his staff. The former member of Djokovic's staff is to advise and look after the player.

The Czech has also decided to collaborate with the company Gotta Tennis, which analyses Djokovic's tennis data, and which will now analyse Mensik's data so that he can improve as much as possible.

On the rise in recent months, Mensik could soon be shaking up the tennis world thanks to his idol Djokovic, who has given him the keys that few young players are lucky enough to have at the start of their careers. Will he become one of the best in the world?

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