In a battle of two youngsters heavily tipped to challenge leading lights Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, it was Jakub Mensik who outlasted younger opponent Joao Fonseca to book a place in his first grand slam semi-final.
The match in some ways mimicked those early clashes between Alcaraz and Sinner: the flashy, much-hyped, pure shotmaker and entertainer against the more brutal, clinical, machine-like opponent. And in this case it was the precise serving of Mensik – coupled with a delicate touch at the net – that prevailed over the more spectacular, but equally more erratic, tennis of his 19-year-old challenger.
The Czech sped through the first two sets before a sudden drop-off in the third, with Fonseca pulling ahead only to be pegged back several times and eventually falling 6-4 6-3 7-6(3) – having saved six match points along the way.
“I’m still in the match a little bit,” a shellshocked Mensik said afterwards. “Great guy, great competitor. We started a little bit nervous and at the end of the match there were some incredible shots. The tiebreak was one of my best performances so far, it was really tough.”
It became clear early on that 26th seed Mensik would not just be facing the young Brazilian, ranked three places and two seedings below him, but a crowd heavily weighted in his opponent’s favour, too. The first roars of “Come on Joao” erupted before the warm-up was even over, and as Fonseca slipped to 0-30 in his second service game, a concerned ripple went around Chatrier. Their man responded with a cleverly constructed point, dragging 20-year-old Mensik out wide before blasting home his signature venomous forehand, with an ace and more thunderous groundstrokes digging him out of trouble.
But having been pushed and pulled around the court early on Mensik found his game, venturing to the net with increasing success and capitalising on the increasingly loose Fonseca forehand. The Czech broke for 3-2 and earned another break point at 4-2, but this time Fonseca settled, rediscovering that brutal forehand and combining it with silky net skills of his own to keep the deficit to just one game.
But Mensik, having found his groove, remained resolute in defence and ventured to the net with increasing success, floating disguised drop shots past his opponent and finding solutions to nearly everything Fonseca threw at him as the Brazilian’s trademark forehand crumbled late in the first set.
Mensik outlasted the 19-year-old in a brutal 28-shot baseline rally at 5-3, waiting patiently until Fonseca hit long, and hit 15 winners to nine unforced errors in the first set.
His patient game continued into the second set, and it paid off: from 40-0 up at 2-2 in the second the teenager suddenly wilted, with a double fault and two unforced errors letting Mensik back in, before the former Miami champion came out on top in an 18-shot rally. He was clean on serve, delicate at the net and a wall in defence, with a fine cross-court backhand winner bringing up break point, and a sharply angled drop shot sealing the game.
Fonseca was back under pressure on serve once again at 5-3, saving a first set point with a laser-accurate forehand onto the sideline. But in a game that summed up both his brilliance and his erratic play, he double faulted to give Mensik a second chance, and the Czech somehow kept himself in another superb 12-shot rally, chasing down the ball across every square inch of red clay, with Fonseca ultimately firing wide. By the end of the second set Mensik had only been taken to deuce once and was yet to face a break point.
But Fonseca left the court to regroup after the second set and looked a different player on his return. The belief was back, the aggression was renewed, and perhaps most significantly his forehand was firing again.
That coincided with Mensik hitting three double faults in his opening service game – having made only one across the first two sets – to be broken for the first time. “Allez!” roared Fonseca, and the Brazil flags waved with renewed vigour. Having come back from two sets to love down twice already this tournament, first against Dino Prizmic and most notably against Novak Djokovic, the stage was set for Fonseca to do it again.
But with Mensik shaking out his leg after the third game, it suddenly became clear quite how much tennis the two youngsters had played over the last 10 days. Errors crept back into Fonseca’s game and although he fought back from 0-40 down, saving three break points, Mensik broke back thanks to a drop shot falling just short. Both their heads seemed to drop a little; in the next game the 26th seed shanked an overhead he would have made with ease in the first two sets.
Fonseca broke for 4-3 and as the roars under the Philippe-Chatrier roof increased so did the tension, with the youngster betraying his tender age with a poorly chosen 205km/h second serve on 30-30 that went against him. The Brazilian upped the aggression – each increasingly violent forehand accompanied by a grunt corresponding in volume – but Mensik battled back, and two shanked forehands by the teenager at the end of a mammoth game handed over another break for 5-5.
Fonseca’s level dipped as he served to stay in it at 6-5, but the fatigue and the mental strain on the other side of the net were evident as Mensik – on his second match point – shanked an overhead well wide. Both players produced some of their most sparkling tennis in a backs-to-the-wall game – but Mensik could not make any of his six match points count, ultimately handing over the game after seven deuces with a backhand thumped into the net.
The Czech may not have quite the same panache as his opponent – although he produced his fair share of highlight reel shots late on Chatrier – but he rediscovered his most potent weapon, his serve, in the tiebreak. He pulled ahead to earn a seventh match point at 6-3 up, and it was his other most dazzling strike, the angled cross-court drop shot, that eventually sealed the deal.
The pair shared a warm embrace, these twin titans-to-be of the sport, and the heavily partisan crowd put its flags down for a moment to applaud them both.
Roland-Garros 2026 has most certainly seen the young generation arrive, if there had been any doubt before, but their task only gets tougher from here. Fonseca had spent 14 and a half hours on court to reach the quarter-finals, Mensik 13, with the Czech’s semi-final opponent, Alexander Zverev, having spent only nine to reach the last eight.
The German has only dropped one set across five matches and goes into Friday’s last-four meeting having spent a full four hours less on court, and with an extra day to recover. Mensik collapsed on court with heat exhaustion after his gruelling second-round, five-set win over Mariano Navone; his body has been under significantly more strain than the experienced second seed, who has now reached his fifth French Open semi-final in six years. Mensik will need all of the mental fortitude he displayed on Wednesday night, and some more spring in his step, if he is to well and truly cement his generation as the danger men of this tournament.
