Jakub Mensik has revealed his hilarious reason for choosing to compete in Doha under new rules for young players. The 18-year-old has enjoyed a statement week, knocking out Andy Murray and world No. 5 Andrey Rublev en route to the semi-final. And he admitted that none of it would have happened without the promise of a tempting incentive.
Mensik has made the most of his entry into the Qatar Open, enjoying the best week of his young career. The Czech teenager reached his first ATP Tour semi-final in impressive fashion and will now crack the top 100 for the first time.
Usually, the world No. 116 wouldn’t have been able to enter the tournament. But under the new ATP Next Gen Accelerator Programme, players aged 20 and under ranked inside the world’s top 250 can pick one ATP 250 event to receive a wildcard into. And Mensik went with Doha.
His reason for picking the Qatar Open? “Because I receive free iPhone,” the 18-year-old laughed when asked why he opted for a wildcard during his on-court interview. As well as the incentive of a gift, Mensik also explained that Doha was his first opportunity to use the accelerator scheme.
He added: “No, no.I have to say that now that I didn’t have this opportunity sooner so for me this was the first option to play this tournament. You know, last week it was also a good tournament, 125 in Bahrain. So for me it was a good opportunity to play this Arabian swing.
“So yeah, we’re very happy again with those games last week and this week. So it’s incredible that we, the young players, have that opportunity to play these tournaments.” Mensik also reached the semi-final of last week’s Challenger in Bahrain.
And just one week later he has the chance to fight for a place in his first tour-level final. The teen sensation opened his Doha campaign by downing No. 5 seed Davidovich Fokina, then dumping Murray out in what became the longest match in Doha history at three hours and 23 minutes.
Mensik backed it up by earning the biggest win of his young career, sending top seed Rublev packing in the quarter-final 6-4 7-6(6). As a result, he became the youngest ATP player to beat a top 5 opponent since Alcaraz at the 2021 US Open, when the now-two-time Major winner was a teenager ranked outside of the world’s top 50.
The Czech star now faces French veteran Gael Monfils in the last four as he looks to continue his fairytale run and he will be full of confidence going into the match – something that served him well against Rublev.
Speaking after he defeated the world No. 5, Mensik said: “Like I played yesterday and like I told you yesterday that, you know, I have that opportunity to play against these guys, and my confidence is high because of the wins past days.
“So I know before the match that I have the quality to beat him. So I just try to stay focused every moment, because Andrey is very specific player. Big forehand, big serve. He push the tempo. It’s very difficult to play against him, so for me it’s now very special to win against this guy.”
