The second round matches continue in the Shanghai Men’s Masters, where the sixth racket in the world, Andrei Rublev, will enter the fray. The Russian will play with the world number 65 racket from the Czech Republic, Jakub Mensik, who in the first round defeated the Spanish Pedro Martínez-Portero 6:1, 5:7, 6:4.
Rublev faced Menshik on court only once, in the quarterfinals of February’s ATP-250 tournament in Doha this year. The match was unsuccessful for Andrey: of the six break points achieved by the Russian, none were taken advantage of. But Yakub knew how to take advantage of the situation and finally won 6:4, 7:6. For the young Czech this was the first and so far only victory over a representative of the Top 5.
After the tournament in Doha, at one of the press conferences, Rublev was asked to comment on Menshik’s strengths. The Russian assessed the playing qualities of his rival from the Czech Republic:
“He knows how to defend himself. He knows how to return balls. At the same time, it can hit very hard. It has this combination that I think is very important. With such a serve… Give me this serve, please,” Andrey said about his opponent.
At the professional level, Yakub doesn’t play for long: just under two years. During this time, his favorite tournament was the Australian Open and the surface was hard. Menshik names Novak Djokovic as an example to follow. By the way, in February 2022 they even managed to train together at the Serbian tennis center. “When dreams come true. Thanks for everything, friends,” is how the Czech captioned the photo he took during a meeting with his idol.
JAKUB MENSIK TRAINED WITH NOVAK Djokovic IN 2022
Photo: From Menshik’s personal archive.
Among the achievements are two appearances in the third round of the US Open, in 2023 and 2024. Previously, this stage of the tournament was conquered at such a young age only by the Frenchman Fabrice Santoro in 1990. In addition, in one of the matches of this year, Yakub confidently beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in three sets (6-2, 6-4, 6-2) and achieved another victory over the former star player.
But the Czech showed his most striking performance in Qatar at the beginning of 2024. Jakub had a phenomenal week and his path to the final was more like a Grand Slam than a 250 tournament.
YAKUB MENSHYK AND KAREN KHACHANOV AFTER THE FINAL OF THE DOHA TOURNAMENT IN 2024
Photo: Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images
After defeating the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina in the first round (7:6, 6:4), the Czech literally snatched the ticket to the quarterfinals from Andy Murray (7:6, 6:7, 7:6) in 3 hours 23 minutes. There he successfully defeated Rublev himself and, after reaching the semi-finals, defeated Gael Monfils (6-4, 1-6, 6-3). However, the young hope of Czech tennis did not appear in the debut final. The title was won by Karen Khachanov, who defeated Menshik 7:6, 6:4. Despite this, Yakub entered the top 100 of the ATP rankings for the first time according to the results of the tournament. Since then, the player has firmly established himself in the top hundred and is now ranked 65th.
The current “thousandth” in Shanghai is the first for Yakub, but Andrey had a very disappointing defeat in last year’s final. Then our tennis player lost to the Polish representative Hubert Hurkacz in three sets: 3:6, 6:3, 6:7 (8:10). Furthermore, in the decisive tiebreaker Rublev was even ahead with a score of 5:2, but could not maintain the advantage and missed the title. I would like to hope that this unfortunate loss has long been forgotten and will not in any way affect Andrei’s performance in the next match.
ANDREY RUBLEV AT THE SHANGHAI TOURNAMENT IN 2023
Photo: Fred Lee/Getty Images
Unfortunately, psychological pressure will not be the only test for our compatriot. After the “500” in Beijing, Andrei admitted that he could have ended the season completely unexpectedly before the Asian tournament series. The tennis player underwent an unscheduled operation and, according to forecasts, he may not have time to recover for the remainder of the season.
“After the US Open, I was preparing for China and a couple of days before leaving I needed surgery which, if not done, could lead to amputation. It was fortunate that in the first three or four hours all this became clear, because after five or six hours the amputation begins. In the end we managed to do everything and it ended up better than expected. Before the operation, the prognoses were not very pleasant: he would have to be in bed for a month and would not be able to do anything. I am glad I was able to return quickly,” Rublev spoke about his physical condition in an interview with BetBoom Tennis.
Related materials
Rublev lost to the world number 96 from China in the Beijing quarterfinals. The stands were delighted
Despite health problems, Andrei continues to fight to qualify for the ATP Final Tournament, which will take place in Turin, Italy from November 10 to 17. Now the Russian is in seventh place in the race for the ATP Championship: he has 3580 points. However, their chances of qualifying could be significantly reduced if they lose early in Shanghai.
After Rublev, in eighth position is the Australian Alex de Minaur, who has been out in recent months due to injury. Then there are four players among the closest pursuers: Novak Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Tommy Paul and Stefanos Tsitsipas. But we believe that Andrey will overcome all difficulties and will be able to save his ticket to Turin!
The next meeting between Rublev and Menshik will be the second for the tennis players. As already mentioned, last time the victory went to the player from the Czech Republic. Therefore, the next fight cannot be considered an easy road for the Russian, especially against the background of recovery from surgery.
The match between Andrei and Yakub will be played on Saturday, October 5. Follow the schedule and events of the tournament in Shanghai in the “Championship”.
