Rising star named as potential rival for ‘giants’ Alcaraz and Sinner by former ATP star
Jakub Mensik has been named as a potential star who could challenge ‘giants’ Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at the very top of the men’s game.
‘New 2’ Alcaraz and Sinner have dominated men’s tennis in recent seasons, with the pair having split the last eight Grand Slam titles between them with four wins apiece, and generating a commanding lead at the very top of the ATP Rankings.
With tennis icon Novak Djokovic, who turns 39 this May, still arguably their closest rival on the ATP Tour, all eyes have been on who could potentially challenge and threaten their dominance, and potentially contend for the biggest titles in tennis.
Among those mentioned frequently is 20-year-old Mensik, who has risen significantly up the ATP Rankings since the start of 2024.
In particular, 2025 proved to be a particularly landmark year for the young Czech, starting with a top-10 win over Casper Ruud in the second round of the Australian Open last January.
That was then followed by a stunning run to the Miami Open title in March, with Mensik beating Taylor Fritz and Djokovic in consecutive matches to lift the title.
Mensik propelled himself inside the top 25 of the ATP Rankings thanks to that result, and would later reach a career-high of 16th in the world last August.
Speaking to Eurosport France, former world No 17 Nicolas Escude suggested that Mensik could potentially go on to “challenge” Alcaraz and Sinner in the near future.
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He said (translated from French): “We’ve been having this debate, this discussion, since the middle of the 2025 season, wondering who this third player might be.
“We’ve talked for so many years about this famous ‘Big 3’, but so far, no one has been able to challenge them [Alcaraz and Sinner] in the big matches.
“Mensik is part of that pool of players who could challenge them a little, but then, it’s always the same. When you look at the season the two of them had this year in the majors, it’s just phenomenal.
“He needs to digest and adapt to this new status, because he will inevitably be under much greater scrutiny. But when you see the level of play he was able to reach in Miami, with his playing style, I’m still interested to see if he can challenge the two giants ahead of him a little more.”
Mensik is currently ranked 18th in the world — just two places below his career-high — and will be the 16th seed at the Australian Open, with both Jack Draper and Holger Rune absent.
It is just the second time that the 20-year-old has been a top-16 seed at a Grand Slam event, and he will be hoping for a significant breakthrough, with the Czech still looking to reach the second week of a major for the first time.
Mensik has suffered a number of painful Grand Slam defeats early in his career, failing to close out a handful of matches from commanding positions.
In 2025 alone, he lost in both the Australian Open third round to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and the French Open second round to Henrique Rocha from two sets to love up, holding a match point in the former.
However, despite those setbacks, he has been backed to continue improving across 2026.
“It’s difficult to set limits for him, but he’s young, extremely young, very powerful, and well-rounded in all aspects of the game,” added Escude.
“Forehand, backhand, he’s an extremely powerful player, who also serves very well, and someone who looks strong, even very strong, physically.
“He needs to develop certain aspects. He’s not the only one, but he’ll have to start working on the transition between baseline play and that forward movement, a little further inside the court.”
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