Two years ago, Jakub Menšík was playing his first matches on the main tour, dreaming of one day stepping onto the sport's biggest stages. On Thursday, he walks onto Philippe-Chatrier for a Roland-Garros semifinal against Alexander Zverev. At 20, the Czech from Prostějov has become the youngest men's Grand Slam semifinalist of the season.
The young man's credentials speak for themselves. In March 2025, he won the Miami Masters 1000 by defeating Novak Djokovic in the final, 7-6(4), 7-6(4). A summit-level match decided without a single break of serve, won on the strength of his delivery and composure. At 19, he became one of the youngest Masters 1000 champions ever, climbing to a career-high world No. 12 by March 2026.
His Paris campaign tells the same story: a competitor who simply refuses to yield. In the quarterfinals against João Fonseca, the young Brazilian who had ousted Djokovic, Menšík converted his seventh match point to prevail in a battle between emerging forces. "The level was insane from both of us," he admitted afterward.
Standing 1.96 meters tall and playing right-handed, Menšík possesses a devastating serve that allows him to dictate rallies from the first strike. His two-handed backhand provides consistency, compensating for footwork that remains a work in progress on clay. Coach Tomáš Josefus, who has been with him since the beginning, brought his mental coach to Paris for this decisive second week.
The challenge against Zverev is immense. The German, a 2024 finalist, brings big-match experience and has not dropped a set since the fourth round. But Menšík already owns ten top-10 victories, including wins over and Djokovic. Fear is not in his vocabulary.
Czech tennis has not produced such a talent since Tomáš Berdych. Menšík, with his blend of raw power and precocious maturity, seems built for even greater heights. The question is whether that journey continues today on the Parisian clay.
