Mensik, sudden pain in press conference

Jakub Mensik is the youngest semifinalist at Roland Garros 2026.

The 20-year-old Czech tennis player achieved the best result of his career by overcoming Brazilian Joao Fonseca in the quarterfinals. After the match, which lasted 2 hours and 44 minutes, Mensik regularly appeared in the press room to answer journalists’ questions.

While answering a question, the Czech suddenly froze, caught by a severe leg cramp, and was forced to stop to stretch his muscles and solve the problem. Fatigue is beginning to take its toll on the physique of the athletes present in Paris: Mensik has accumulated a total playing time in singles of about 16 hours, and during the match against Argentina’s Navone in the second round he had had to leave the court in a wheelchair after feeling ill.

Mensik will return to the court on Friday for the Roland Garros semifinal against Alexander Zverev. The German proved to be the tournament’s most solid favorite, dismissing young Spaniard Rafael Jodar in the quarters in three sets with a score of 7-6, 6-2, 6-3. The German, world No. 3, showed all his experience by regaining a 5-2 disadvantage in the first set before dominating the rest of the match.

For Zverev, as well as for Mensik, winning this Roland Garros would mean getting his hands on the first Slam title of his career. The context of the tournament has made this edition of Roland Garros particularly open and unpredictable: with Carlos Alcaraz absent due to injury and Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic eliminated, none of the players left in the running can boast a Slam title in their trophy cabinet.