Jakub Mensik produced a shock result at the Qatar Open last week against Jannik Sinner.
Mensik beat Sinner, 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3, in their first ever meeting in the quarterfinals in Doha.
This continued the Czech’s impressive record against top 10 players, with Mensik seen as a potential challenger to Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner.
Mensik was beaten in his subsequent match by Qatar Open runner-up Arthur Fils, and he has now stated what his victory over Sinner proved to him.
Jakub Mensik says how he feels about beating Jannik Sinner now
Mensik won the Miami Open last year in a breakout season for the 20-year-old, and he has been tipped to achieve big things in his career.
When reflecting on beating Sinner last week, Mensik told Tennis TV that it proved to him that he was on the right track to reaching his potential.
“Last week was quite a week for me, obviously reaching the semis like you said a lot of great matches,” said Mensik. “Obviously tough loss two days ago, but overall a good week for me. #
“And like you said I came back to Doha since 2024, when it was my first tournament, so I have really nice memories and also I really had a great time there. I showed some great tennis, some great performance, so I’m really happy with my game overall.
“Obviously big high, not just for me but all of the people, that match against Jannik obviously was one of my greatest matches in my young career so I’m pretty happy.
“I really found myself well on the court beating Jannik, and basically being on the same level as him showed me a lot, it actually showed me that I’m going the right way.”
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Jakub Mensik’s potential run to the title in Dubai
Mensik has made an impressive start to the 2026 season, winning 11 of his 14 matches, which includes winning his second ATP title in Auckland.
The world number 13 will look to continue this at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where he is the sixth seed.
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Despite being one of the top ranked players in Dubai, Mensik has been dealt a tricky opening match against former world number six Hubert Hurkacz.
They are two of the biggest servers on the ATP Tour, with Hurkacz leading the head-to-head against Mensik 2-0.
| Dubai Tennis Championships 2026 | Jakub Mensik’s Potential Opponent |
| First Round | Hubert Hurkacz |
| Second Round | Alexei Popyrin/Kamil Majchrzak |
| Quarterfinal | Alexander Bublik (2)/Tallon Griekspoor/Jan-Lennard Struff/Otto Virtanen |
| Semifinal | Jack Draper (4)/Andrey Rublev (5)/Arthur Rinderknech/Stefanos Tsitsipas |
| Final | Felix Auger-Aliassime (1)/Daniil Medvedev (3)/Karen Khachanov (7)/Jiri Lehecka (8) |
If Mensik is able to get his first win over Hurkacz on Tuesday, February 24, then he will play either Alexei Popyrin or Kamil Majchrzak.
Some of the other potential threats in Mensik’s half of the draw include Alexander Bublik, Andrey Rublev and the returning Jack Draper, who has been dealing with an arm injury since Wimbledon.
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