Australian Open: Meet Jakub Mensik, the 19-year-old who stunned Casper Ruud

19-year-old Jakub Mensik clinched one of the biggest wins of his nascent tennis career on Wednesday, January 15, dumping out World No. 6 Casper Ruud in the second round of the Australian Open 2025. Mensik defeated the former French Open and US Open finalist6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in a commanding display of tennis under the lights at the Margaret Court Arena.

Mensik’s win over Casper Ruud comes a day after 18-year-old Joao Fonseca stunned World No. 9 Andrey Rublev in the opening round in straight sets as the next generation of tennis stars have made a bright start to the season.

For the first time since 2006, two teenagers have taken out top 10 players in men’s singles in a Grand Slam. The last two to do so were Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Mensik flaunted his knowledge of tennis history as he rightly recalled that Novak Djokovic was one of them in 2006. The presenter at the Margaret Court Arena reminded him that the other one was Murray, much to the cheers of the Melbourne crowd on Wednesday.

Jakub Mensik, who was born inProstejov, Czechia, is among the youngest players in the top 50 with a men’s singles ranking of 48, which he achieved late last year. At 19, Mensik has already made the third round of three Grand Slam events. With his latest run to the third round in Melbourne, he has matched his best run in a Grand Slam tournament.

MORE ABOUT MENSIK

Mensik’s promising career began on the junior tour, where he achieved a career-high ITF junior combined ranking of World No. 3 in January 2022. He notably reached the final of the 2022 Australian Open Junior singles event, although he lost to Bruno Kuzuhara due to thigh muscle cramps.

In 2023, Mensik transitioned to professional tennis and quickly made his mark. He won his first Challenger title at the 2023 Sparta Prague Open, becoming the youngest Czech Challenger champion in history at just 17 years old. This victory was significant, as it mirrored the achievements of former World No. 4 Tomas Berdych, who also won Challenger titles at 17.

2024 was a pivotal year for Mensik. He qualified for the Australian Open and defeated former top 10 player Denis Shapovalov in the first round. At the Qatar Open, he had a remarkable run, defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Andy Murray, Andrey Rublev, and Gael Monfils to reach his first ATP final, where he lost to Karen Khachanov. This performance propelled him into the top 100, making him the youngest player in this bracket at 18 years old.

Mensik continued his impressive form by making his Masters 1000 debut at the BNP Paribas Open, where he secured his first main draw Masters win. He also reached the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open, defeating top 10 player Grigor Dimitrov, and the third round of the US Open for the second consecutive year, upsetting Felix Auger-Aliassime and Tristan Schoolkate.