Story of the 2024 #NextGenATP season
Story of the 2024 #NextGenATP season
Czech star Jakub Mensik accomplished the biggest goal of his 2024 season by qualifying for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF for the first time. Now the 19-year-old wants the trophy in Jeddah.
Mensik reached his first ATP Tour final in February at the age of 18, beating Andy Murray, Andrey Rublev and Gael Monfils to advance to the title match in Doha. That run made him the first player born in 2005 or later to reach a tour-level final. While he was edged by Karen Khachanov in the championship match, his breakout week earned him a debut in the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings.
“That was amazing. It’s a really good feeling that in this young age I can compete with the best players,” he said in filming for the ATP Tour’s Journey to Jeddah series, “All these small details, all these small things and experiences are pushing me higher in my career.”
Since that week, Mensik has competed exclusively at tour-level. He will enter Jeddah inside the Top 50 behind recent quarter-final runs at the Rolex Shanghai Masters — where he took a set off Novak Djokovic — and Vienna.
The big stages of the ATP Tour are a long way from the neighbourhood courts in front of his childhood home in of Prostejov, Czechia, where Mensik learned the game from the age of four. He was hooked from the beginning, his love of the game deepened by his obvious talent.
<img alt=”Jakub Mensik” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/11/15/18/26/mensik-journey-jeddah-2.jpg” />
Prostejov is famous for tennis, his father Michal explained, home to one of three national tennis centers in Czechia. The small town now has an even bigger tennis footprint thanks to Mensik’s rise — but the local hero is far from satisfied.
“Tennis is improving every year, every season, so it’s very important to try to be better than the generation before us,” Mensik said, noting his admiration for past Next Gen ATP Finals champs like Stefanos Tsitsipas (2018), Jannik Sinner (2019), Carlos Alcaraz (2021).
“Tennis fans like new blood,” he added. “They want to know who is coming next.”
An all-court player with a big serve, the Czech is eager to make his own mark at the very top of the ATP Tour. He sees Jeddah as the perfect stepping stone.
“It’s really great that the ATP gives the young players the opportunity to see how it works at [one of] the most beautiful ATP events and tournaments on tour,” he said. “We’ll see, but I want to win also, of course.”
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BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller looks at what tennis could do to become an even more appealing and exciting sport.
The world’s leading 20-and-under players learned their group fate for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF on Sunday evening, when the official draw was conducted in Jeddah.
Arthur Fils, a three-time ATP Tour titlist, is the top seed and leads Blue Group. The 20-year-old Frenchman will be joined by Jakub Mensik, Learner Tien and Joao Fonseca. Alex Michelsen is the second seed at the year-end event and heads Red Group, which will also feature Shang Juncheng, Luca Van Assche and Nishesh Basavareddy.
[ATP APP]At No. 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Fils comes into the tournament as the strong favourite and with a much higher ranking than Blue group rivals Mensik (48), Tien (122) and Fonseca (145). But Fils is expected to face a tough time in his group. He suffered a 6-0, 6-4 defeat to Fonseca in Rio de Janeiro earlier this year. Mensik has one of the most explosive and dangerous games of any player at the tournament , having earned four Top 10 wins in 2024 and Tien comes in with hot form, winning three Challenger Tour titles this season.
Michelsen (41) and Shang (50) both sit inside the Top 50 in the PIF ATP Rankings. They have never faced off but will fancy their chances of advancing to the semi-finals, ranked more than 70 places above Van Assche and Basavareddy. Shang won his maiden ATP Tour title in Chengdu in September, while Michelsen reached finals in Newport and Winston-Salem in 2024.
Van Assche, currently No. 128 in the PIF ATP Rankings, and World No. 138 Basavareddy make up Red Group. Van Assche reached the third round at the Australian Open in January, while Basavareddy has lifted two ATP Challenger Tour trophies since October.
The Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF begins on Wednesday, with the final on Sunday 22nd December. The round-robin stage will be held from Wednesday to Friday, with the semi-finals on Saturday. The title match will occur at 8 p.m. local time (6 p.m. CET) on Sunday 22nd.
Hyeon Chung, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Brandon Nakashima and Hamad Medjedovic have all triumphed at the event.
Blue Group: Arthur Fils (1), Jakub Mensik (3), Learner Tien (5), Joao Fonseca (8).
Red Group: Alex Michelsen (2), Shang Juncheng (4), Luca Van Assche (6), Nishesh Basavareddy (7).
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