Jakub Mensik earns shock victory over Jannik Sinner at Qatar Open - 'Very tough mental battle'
Published 19/02/2026 at 23:23 GMT
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Jakub Mensik pulled off a surprise victory at the Qatar Open on Thursday in the quarter-finals against world No. 2 Jannik Sinner. Mensik, 20, battled through for an impressive 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3 win that sets up a semi-final clash with Arthur Fils in the semi-finals on Friday, with a place in Saturday evening's final up for grabs. Carlos Alcaraz also safely advanced.
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Jannik Sinner lost 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3 to Jakub Mensik in a shock defeat at the Qatar Open on Thursday.
Mensik, 20, produced what might be considered the most impressive victory of his career so far as he knocked out the world No. 2 with an impressive quarter-final display.
His determination was on show as, despite Sinner roaring back in the second set, Mensik held his nerve to win the decisive third.
This was his first tour match against Sinner and the win sets up a semi-final clash with Arthur Fils on Friday, with the final scheduled for Saturday. Carlos Alcaraz will face Andrey Rublev in the other semi-final.
Mensik won 82% of points on his first serve as he kept Sinner on the back foot for much of the match.
The youngster seemed somewhat taken aback by his own victory as he spoke afterwards.
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Asked how he had secured the win, the 20-year-old admitted: "I don’t know, to be honest."
He praised his opponent but said that, despite Jannik’s obvious talent, he approached the match with the attitude that victory was possible.
He explained: "Before the match I knew about Jannik’s quality. A great guy, a great champion. Already what he has done in his young career, it’s pretty impressive, so I knew it was going to be a tough one. But even with that thought, I came to the match to win it, and actually having a winning mindset.
"I served pretty good, even if the conditions were starting to get slower during the night. It was a very tough mental battle.
"After the second set, when I dropped my energy a little bit, I’m really happy that I came back after the toilet break and from the beginning of the third set, I just started to serve well again. I’m just happy with the performance I showed today."
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‘I didn’t know I was going to play that good’ - Fils
Fils defeated Jiri Lehecka earlier on Thursday in straight sets, 6-3 6-3, and the Frenchman was surprised by the routine nature of the win given his recent return from injury.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, he said: "I didn't know that I was going to play that good that fast, for sure.
"You don't know what to expect when you are back from injury since, what, six to eight months. So you don't really know what to expect.
"[I’m] pretty happy with the way I'm playing now. It's not my best tennis yet so far, but we're getting there. I just need to fight every match to play a lot of balls, to play a lot of games, sets, points, to get again ready, and getting better and better."
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