Czechia’s 18-year-old sensation Jakub Mensik shocked American Christopher Eubanks 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the first round of the Mallorca Open – and goes on to face veteran Italian Fabio Fognini for a place in the quarter finals.

Mensik turned professional less than two years ago, and lost in the first round of qualifying in Halle last week. Yet eight days later in his second match ever on grass, he put out the 42^nd ranked Eubanks who won the tournament last year.

“For me it’s a good result,” said Mensik in his on-court interview. “Obviously after difficult weeks, I’m happy to compete again. Back on grass with a ‘W’, I’m happy and I will be pushing more for the next round.”

The youngster is already ranked well inside the top 100 at just 18 years, and possesses a power game including a huge forehand and serving speeds of up to 138mph. And yet amongst all that strength, perhaps the point of the match was his exquisite faded backhand drop volley off a Eubanks return to level the scores at one game all early in the second set – a jaw-dropping display of finesse to suggest that Mensik is going places, and fast. 

Elsewhere around the grounds today, sixth seed Gael Monfils continued his good form from yesterday when he beat Dominic Thiem, this time defeating Roberto Carbelles Baena from Spain in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 and now plays Roberto Bautista Agut, who battled past second seed Ugo Humbert 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a match lasting two and half hours. 

In other results:

(R16) Alex Michelsen beat Adrian Mannarino 7-6, 6-4
(R16) Sebastian Ofner beat Luciano Darderi 6-3, 7-5
(R32) Paul Jubb beat Maximilian Marterer
(R32) Adam Walton beat Yannick Hanfmann

Britain’s Jack Draper tight first round win headlined the opening day’s results at the Boss Open 2024 in Stuttgart – and possibly faces a second-round match with Andy Murray who takes on Marcos Giron tomorrow.

Less than 24 hours from the last ball being hit at Roland Garros, the ATP Tour had already switched surfaces onto the grass, and 22-year-old Draper was well tested but ultimately came through in two tie-breakers over Sebastian Ofner.

The sixth seed’s 7-6, 7-6 win contained just one break of serve each, both coming in the second set, as serve dominated proceedings on the faster grass courts in Germany.

While the Austrian won 75% on his first serve, Draper won a whopping 89% behind his first delivery as well as hitting eight aces. These kind of service stats will surely take him far during the grass court season.

“I thought it was a really good match,” Eurosport quoted Draper saying after his match. 
“Both of us played really clean tennis, executing really well.
“When it came down to it, I’m glad I competed really well and got over the line – it’s good to be back on the grass as well.”

There were also wins for Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann who won 6-3, 6-3 over wildcard Henri Squire, while compatriot Dominik Koepfer won in three sets over China’s Zhizhen Zhang 4-6, 7-6, 7-6. 

The legend of Carlos Alcaraz and his magical racket lives on.

The 21-year-old Spaniard executed one magical shot after another with his racket and legs  Sunday afternoon in the French Open final. That bit of magic spelled defeat for Germany’s Alexander Zverev.

This was a final to remember, one of the great matches of all the Grand Slams. It just wasn’t in the cards for the 26-year-old Zverev to finally win a Grand Slam title.

HE HAD IT, THEN HE DIDN’T

Both players seemed to play a game of “he had it and then he didn’t.”

Alcaraz appeared to have everything under control in the first set, but Zverev rushed through the second set and then made a comeback from 5-2 down in the third set to win five straight games.

Zverev had everything going for him when he started the fourth set with a two-set advantage. It appeared that all the 6-6 Zverev had to do was to continue playing his masterful game of big serves and mighty ground strokes.

But Zverev couldn’t get started in the fourth set until he was down 4-0. So much for a smooth and easy ride to a Grand Slam title. By then, the magic of Alcaraz was heating up.

MAGIC OF ALCARAZ HEATING UP

Zverev still had his chances, even when he fell behind 2-1 in the fifth set. He had to feel pretty good about his chances when he took a triple break point lead against Alcaraz’s serve and appeared ready to even the set at 2-2. Even after Carlos came up with a winner to bring the  game score to double break point.

Zverev still was ready to even the entire match.

That’s when everything seemed to go haywire for the German, while all the while, Alcaraz was able to repeatedly come up with his magical shots as the Spaniard made critical shots that looked almost impossible to make.

ALCARAZ HEADED FOR GREATNESS

Everything for Zverev was lost in the magical racket of Alcaraz.

What was then initially called a game-ending Alcaraz double fault and a 2-2 deadlock quicky reversed itself and Alcaraz stayed alive by winning the next three points while taking a 3-1 advantage.

Zverev did get back to a 3-2 deficit and had a break point in the sixth game, but that was it for the hopes of Zverev. The last two games went rather easily in favor of Alcaraz to wrap up a 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 victory for Alcaraz.

That moved the Spaniard to a higher level of success on the ATP Tour. He became the youngest man to win Grand Slam titles on all of the different surfaces, clay, grass and hard courts.

Carlos Alcaraz and his magical racket appear to be headed for greatness.

James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award  for print media. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.