Facing a young local talent in front of a packed crowd is always a challenging task, and Jakub Mensik must have been relieved after surviving a three-set battle against 18-year-old Henry Bernet in the first round at ATP Basel. Mensik fired 18 aces, won over 80% of his first-serve points, and did not concede his serve even once in the 2-hour 30-minute match, which ended 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.
Sustaining a long three-set battle and emerging victorious was a positive result for the young Czech, especially given that his fitness has not been at an optimal level in recent weeks. He was forced to retire from the quarterfinals in Beijing last month, and just a few days later, he was outlasted in three sets by Jesper De Jong in the Shanghai Masters opener.
Mensik needs just one more win to match all the quarterfinal points he earned this week last year in Vienna, where he made his debut in 2024. As a qualifier, he won four consecutive matches before running out of steam in the quarterfinals against Alex de Minaur.
Joao Fonseca entered Basel without a single main-draw win at tour-level indoor events and suffered a demoralizing straight-set loss to Botic van de Zandschulp in the first round in Brussels last week. It was a match he could have won in straight sets had he converted his opportunities, ultimately falling 5-7, 6-7.
Despite those concerns, the Brazilian produced an impressive performance in the first round, ousting defending champion Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard with a 7-6, 6-3 victory over a player who had never previously dropped serve at this venue. While Fonseca may lack experience on this surface at the ATP level, he has proven his capabilities in similar conditions, having won the ATP Next Gen Finals title in December 2024 and accumulated numerous wins at the Challenger level, as well as in team competitions like the Laver Cup and Davis Cup.
So far in his young career, Fonseca has faced top-20 players ten times, winning four of those encounters. Even in some of his losses, he was highly competitive, taking sets off players like Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz, and going toe-to-toe with Tommy Paul. His upcoming match against Jakub Mensik will mark his third top-20 meeting on indoor hard courts, after defeating Arthur Fils at the ATP Next Gen Finals 2024 and losing to Ugo Humbert in the Davis Cup earlier this year.
Head-to-head: Joao Fonseca leads 1-0 (five-setter at the Next Gen Finals 2024). Jakub Mensik is currently the more experienced and consistent player on the main tour, with greater familiarity on indoor hard courts. However, his recent fitness record is unreliable, making it difficult to place full confidence in him against a highly capable and equally talented opponent like Fonseca.
