ATP DOHA – Jakub Menšík (18), who is playing more and more confidently at the generously subsidized ATP 250 tournament in Doha, Qatar, knocked out three former champions in three days and is pushing his best on the main circuit. He defeated French veteran Gaël Monfils (37), 19 years his senior, 6:4, 1:6, 6:3, followed up on the scalps of Andy Murray and Andrey Rublyov, and advancing to the final secured his move to 86th place in the world rankings. The Czech teenager will play against Russian Karen Chačanov (27) for the title.
Minor – Monfils 6:4, 1:6, 6:3
In Doha, Jakub Menšík scored his first three wins over members of the TOP 50, including the scalps of three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray and world number five Andrey Rublyov, and the day after knocked down the third former champion in three days. He defeated the French veteran Gaël Monfils after almost two hours of play 6:4, 1:6, 6:3.
What a TALENT
The moment Jakub Mensik in only his 3rd tour-level event reaches his first ATP Tour final #QatarExxonMobilOpen pic.twitter.com/AfO0OkxqIF
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 23, 2024
The young Czech was losing 0:1 and 0:40 at the beginning of the match, but he eliminated all the break points and regained peace of mind with his racket. In the fifth game, he reached a single break point, used it to decide the fate of the first set.
He won a near-exhibition exchange at the start of the second set, in which he finished short and two lobs, returning one with a between-the-legs shot, but Monfils won the action easily. But he did not let himself be broken.
And not even in the third set, in which Menšík lost a quickly won break to 2:0 and was losing 0:30 on his serve at 3:3. He eliminated the complications by winning six balls in a row, won 12 of the last 15 matches and converted the second match point with a sharp serve.
“It’s hard for me to find words. This was one of my best performances in my life. Gaël is a tough opponent, he moves very well and I had to show my best shot for every point. I’m very happy to reach this level in the semi-finals, hopefully I will to play like that tomorrow as well. It will be a huge challenge for me,” said the eighteen-year-old Menšík in a post-match interview on the court.
Statistics of the match Jakub Menšík – Gaël Monfils (@ Livesport)
The 37-year-old Monfils, currently the 68th player in the world, presented himself in the Qatari capital for the first time since his triumph in 2018. He also played in the finals there in 2006, 2012 and 2014.
“When Gaël played here for the first time (2005), I wasn’t even born yet. Gaël was a huge inspiration for me, he’s a great tennis player and a great person. I watched him on TV as a kid, I hope we’ll play again because some exchanges were incredibly,” the native of Prostějov enjoyed the scalp of the former world number six.
“You’re one of the biggest inspirations when I was younger…”
A heartwarming moment between Jakob Mensik and Gael Monfils at the net #QatarExxonMobilOpen pic.twitter.com/bvlnIsTK5a
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 23, 2024
“You were one of my biggest inspirations when I was younger. I watched you on TV, thanks for the game man,” said Menšík to Monfils during an emotional handshake at the net.
Menšík takes his third start on the main circuit and makes himself known again. After the third round at last year’s US Open and the second round at this year’s Australian Open, he made it to the final this week on the Persian Gulf coast. At 18 years and five months, he became the youngest finalist in the 30-year history of the Qatar tournament and the youngest finalist on the ATP circuit since Umag 2021, when Carlos Alcaraz played for the title.
Menšík chose to participate in the main competition of the tournament with a subsidy of 1.5 million dollars in Doha thanks to the new program (Next Gen Accelerator Program) for players under the age of 20, and he makes perfect use of the chance.
By advancing to the semi-finals, he already had a certain premiere move into the TOP 100, in which he will be the youngest member and the only player under the age of 19. With another win, he secured a jump to the 86th place, and if he does not find a conqueror on the Arabian Peninsula, he will catapult to the 75th position.
The 2022 junior Australian Open finalist has five ITF tournament titles and one challenger title. In Doha, he will attack for the first trophy from the ATP event in the first mutual duel against world number 17 Karen Khačanov.
Popyrin – Chačanov 6:7, 2:6
After fending off three set points in the opening set, Khačanov dealt with Australian Alexei Popyrin 7:6, 6:2 in the first semi-final, avenged last year’s defeat in Tokyo and adjusted the mutual record to 3:1.
The 27-year-old Russian, a finalist at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic tournament, is in the final for the eighth time in his career. He celebrated his last fifth title last September in Zhuhai, China. He also has one trophy from the Masters 1000 events (Paris 2018).
On of his game! @karenkhachanov defeats Popyrin 7-6 6-2 to reach his 8th ATP Tour final #QatarExxonMobilOpen pic.twitter.com/xn9HlEOgCH
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 23, 2024
Results of the ATP 250 tournament in Doha
Article originally published for Livesport News.
2024-02-23 22:28:13
#ride #continues #Menšík #defeated #champions #Doha #finals #scalping #Monfils
