Third seed Jakub Mensik has grabbed a slice of history in reaching the final of the 2026 ASB Classic.
The Czech prodigy is the third youngest Auckland finalist this century, behind Rafa Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro. The legendary Spaniard made the 2004 decider as a 17-year-old, while del Potro made the last day just past his 20th birthday in 2009. Mensik – who had a marathon Friday, with a quarter-final, and a semi-final – is a month older than del Potro was.
“Oh, nice - not bad,” smiled Mensik, when the Herald mentioned the statistic. Obviously, it’s great to be part of these kind of names in the history of this tournament. So yeah, I’m happy for it and actually, if I would go in the same way as at least one of them, it wouldn’t be bad at all.”
It’s illustrious company – and perhaps no coincidence – as Mensik seems earmarked for greatness. While there are always youngsters tipped as the next big name in tennis, it feels like Mensik is already on the way.
It was shown in 2024 when he reached the Doha final as a teenager, beating three former champions, including Gael Monfils and Andy Murray, on the way. It was shown last August, as he trumped two top-five-ranked players, Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic, on the way to the ATP 1000 title in Miami.
And it was shown again on Friday, as he overcame a challenging schedule – and two quality opponents – to power into the final. After Thursday’s constant rain, his quarter-final was shifted to an 11am start on Friday. He steamrolled big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4 6-2, then was back on court in the early afternoon, prevailing 7-6 (9) 4-6 6-1 over solid Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, in a match that stretched across 2h7m.
“It was very difficult,” said Mensik. “Not many times on the ATP Tour are you playing two matches in one day. And actually, it was one match, then two hours break and then the other one.”
Given he was a top-four seed, Mensik has had a challenging road. His first match on Wednesday didn’t finish until close to midnight, after a delayed start then a 2h14m three-setter. He then spent most of Thursday waiting in the players’ lounge, with several false dawns.
“You are waiting the whole day, you know, ‘Am I going to play or not’,” said Mensik. “Like every 30 minutes it was changing, raining, not raining, so it was physically and mentally very difficult.”
Mensik didn’t leave till after 10pm – then was back at 8am on Friday – “it was hard to get a good recovery overnight” – but he made light of the situation, blasting Perricard off the court with five breaks of his massive serve.
The semi-final was much closer, given Marozsan had been in top form, shown with his wins over Monfils and second seed Casper Ruud. A turning point came in the first set tiebreaker. At 3-6 down, Mensik saved three set points, although he admitted he got a “bit lucky “ on one, as his framed shot landed in. He defied another set point at 6-7, before nailing his own at 10-9.
“I believed, even if I was 3-6 down,” said Mensik.
The second bracket had more twists, as Marozsan retrieved an early deficit to level the match. But Mensik wouldn’t be denied, lifting again in the final set, before a 219km/h serve sealed match point.
Mensik characterised the day as perfect preparation for the upcoming Australian Open – “I played five sets today” – and enjoys the unique atmosphere here, with spectators eating and drinking in courtside boxes, a rare sight on the tour.
“It’s like playing in the middle of a restaurant,” he joked in his post-match interview on Sky.
Mensik will face Sebastian Baez in Saturday’s final, after the Argentine continued his hot streak to start 2026. The world No 39 had a 3-0 record in the United Cup last week and has scorched through the field here.
On Friday, he upset world No 8 Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals – 7-5 6-3 – for only the third top-10 win of his career, from 21 attempts. Baez was too consistent and too fast, constantly forcing Shelton to play another shot and putting pressure on the American’s serve.
“He outplayed me, as simple as that,” said Shelton. “It was a bad serving performance from me. To get broken five times on a hard court in two sets ... I just wasn’t hitting my spots the way that I needed to against someone as solid as him.”
In the semi-final, Baez was too strong for American Marcos Giron, prevailing 6-1 6-4 in 1h27m. The 25-year-old will feature in his 12th final on Saturday, with Mensik in his third. They have never faced each other at tour level.
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.