Jakub Mensik is on a roll at the Shanghai Masters and he will get to realise a lifelong dream in the last eight of the tournament when he takes on all-time great Novak Djokovic.
The 19-year-old Mensik only made his Masters debut in March this year and seven months later he finds himself in his first quarter-final of an ATP 1000 tournament after a couple of upset wins.
The Czech defeated sixth seed Andrey Rublev in the second round and a few days later he took out ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov in three sets.
The win over Dimitrov was Mensik’s fourth over a top-10 player and he finds himself in good company as he is only the sixth teenager to claim four or more wins against top-10 opponents after Lleyton Hewitt, Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune.
His reward – besides a rise to a new career-high No 54 in the ATP Rankings – is a clash against his idol Djokovic, who reached the last eight with a two-set victory over Roman Safiullin.
“[I am] more than excited. Exciting is really a small word [for how I feel]. But yeah, obviously a dream come true,” Mensik said.
“Because of him, I started to play tennis. When I was young and starting to play tennis, he was already on the top. So I was like, ‘Wow, he’s really good’.
“He [won] a lot of Grand Slams. And right now, when I’m 19 and he’s still playing, I have this chance to play against him.
“Of course, when I started to play, there was one wish – to play against him. So I’m really happy that it came true, and that I can play with him. We’ll see which level I am on Friday.”
Djokovic has never been one to shy away from helping youngsters and he did the same for Mensik in 2022 when he gave the up-and-coming Czech a surprise call and shared some tips.
In an interview with L’Equipe earlier this year, Mensik revealed the tennis legend called him out of the blue to share some secrets.
“He did not hesitate to share his knowledge and contacts. We had closed doors in front of us, Novak opened them,” the youngster explained.
He added: “I first thought it was a hoax, but it was really him. Novak is my childhood idol, you can imagine my joy.
“Weight, lunch, recovery… Everything he did, I did.”