Growing up in the historic Czech city of Prostejov in the Czech Republic, Australia must have seemed a world away for Jakub Mensik.
But as he developed his talent for the sport he first discovered as a five-year-old, a young Mensik also developed an affinity for the faraway nation.
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“When I was a young kid, I always wanted to come to Australia, this beautiful country,” he said. “I mean the culture here and all the people are super nice.”
Equally nice are the milestones Mensik, at just 18 years old, is amassing in his favourite destination.
In 2022, he progressed to the final of the Australian Open boys’ tournament. While it proved a bittersweet career first when he suffered debilitating cramps in a loss to American Bruno Kuzuhara, the experience laid the foundations for bigger performances.
“Two years ago, it was a special moment for me. It was an unbelievable experience even though I lost,” Mensik said. “I felt how it is to have a full-body cramp. We tried after that to do some things better, so it's not going to happen [again].”
Those improvements were clearly well implemented, given Mensik’s rapid progress since.
After winning a first Challenger title in Prague last season, Mensik completed a successful qualifying campaign at the US Open.
At age 17, he subsequently became the youngest man to win a main-draw match at Flushing Meadows since 2014, going on to reach the third round.
A return to Australia is proving equally momentous for the 193-centimetre teen.
Mensik launched his season as a finalist at the ATP Challenger tournament in Canberra, where he was runner-up to Dominik Koepfer. He then progressed through qualifying to make his Australian Open main-draw debut.
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It proved another memorable match as Mensik upset Denis Shapovalov, a former top-10 player, in the tournament’s first round.
“I love to play here in this beautiful atmosphere and in this beautiful centre, so I'm just super happy that I get the W today, because I came through quallies and played today against Denis Shapovalov, a former top-10 player,” he smiled.
“It was very tough to play against him. I'm just happy that I made it and I will do my best to continue with these performances in (the) next rounds.”
Mensik has no shortage of accessible role models as he works towards his goals. After watching the then-junior compete in the AO 2022 boys’ final, Novak Djokovic sent a personal invitation for the teenager to train with him in Belgrade.
“He was my idol since I was young and he still is,” said Mensik. “I had a lot of experiences with him and he's such a nice guy off the court … He helped me a lot.”
Hailing from the tennis-rich city of Prostejov – where Berdych, Petra Kvitova and recent Adelaide champion Jiri Lehecka – honed their ability, Mensik also formed other powerful connections early in his career.
“The best tennis Czech players are practising there and we can play and spur each other (along),” said Mensik, who was delighted to play an exhibition with former world Berdych last year.
With an aggressive game built around his powerful serve, Mensik is equally delighted with the opportunity to add to the Czech Republic’s rich tennis heritage.
“I think tennis has a very big name in our country,” he smiled. “In the past, we had a lot of good players and in the moment, Jiri Lehecka and Tomas Mechac [are], all good young players, plus all the girls (that are) top 15.
It seems only a matter of time before the 142nd-ranked Mensik, whose goals for the season are to crack the world’s top 100 and qualify for the season-ending NextGen ATP Finals, is also referenced among that talented group.