The 2026 French Open has not played out the way most expected, especially on the men's side. While WTA No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is still alive, no man who reached the quarterfinals has ever won a major before. That included 20-year-old Jakub Mensik and 19-year-old Joao Fonseca.
To be sure, the crowd at Roland Garros watching the quarterfinal match between the two players was firmly behind Fonseca, the Brazilian with a face that always appears on the verge of breaking into an endearing smile. He has charm, likely the kind he could turn into global stardom if he weren't too young to know how to harness it.
Mensik isn't without some style, but is far more stoic. He has a punishing serve, but sometimes struggles to land his first. Should he do so, he can compete with any player on the ATP, including the currently injured Carlos Alcaraz and the current No. 1, Jannik Sinner.
Jakub Mensik overcomes Joao Fonseca in the quarterfinals of the 2026 French Open
It was his serve that put Mensik in a position to race out to an early two sets to love lead against Fonseca. Neither player was performing poorly, but Joao Fonseca was just a tick better, including showing some unusual touch at the net when he would pick up some well-struck shots by Fonseca and deliver them back just over the net.
Fonseca also has bombastic shots, of course, and a bigger and better forehand than Mensik, too. What he lacks, at least compared to his Czech opponent, is the kind of serve that can consistently stop momentum. Through two sets, if Mensik got into trouble, his serve bailed him out.
After taking sets one and two 6-4, 6-3, Mensik kept finding himself falling behind in the third set. He appeared to suddenly be battling a glute injury, though to what extent was unclear. He played through and kept moving well. His first serve had mostly abandoned him, though, at least temporarily.
Leading 5-4 in set three and with Fonseca trying to serve to force at least a fourth set, a 10-minute game unfolded where Mensik kept getting the advantage but couldn't finish. Not until almost 11 minutes had gone by was he finally able to get the set back to even with the break.
Serving at 5-6 to force a third-set tie-break, Fonseca faced six break points (and, therefore, Mensik had six match points) in another game that pushed past 10 minutes. On one of the points, Mensik missed an overhead that would have put the match away. He slightly mishit it, and the ball landed just out. Finally, Fonseca was able to win the game to force the tie-break.
During the game, each player displayed the kind of touch and power that will likely catapult them to long-term stardom. They might not yet be at the level of Sinner and Alcaraz, but they are creeping ever closer.
In the set three tie-break, Jakub Mensik dominated, winning it 7-3. He will next play Alexander Zverev in the semifinals, a match that will be must-watch tennis. Joaoa Fonseca isn't going away anytime soon, though. He and Mensik are going to be a problem for the rest of the ATP tour for years.
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