Peter Staples/ATP Tour
Jakub Mensik improves to 6-5 vs. Top-10 opponents.
By Jerome Coombe
Jakub Mensik snapped Jack Draper’s six-match winning streak on Saturday with a high-quality second-round display at the Miami Open presented by Itau.
The Indian Wells champion and new World No. 7 Draper walked into the clash exuding confidence, but Mensik quickly brushed it aside with a self-assured performance of his own to prevail 7-6(2), 7-6(3). The 19-year-old, who competed at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, produced two clinical tie-breaks, in the first of which he slammed four aces, to reach the third round at an ATP Masters 1000 for the third time in his career.
“The most important thing today was the serve, that was key,” said Mensik, who hit 21 aces. “I knew in the second set, it was going to be tough at the 30/30 moments and in the tie-break, so I just tried to stay focused. I’m super glad that I kept the focus until the end.”
Delivering the hammer blow 🔨
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 22, 2025
Jakub Mensik topples Indian Wells champion Draper for a spot in the third round! @MiamiOpen | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/tMHxIHHEA8
With his one-hour, 55-minute victory over Draper, Mensik is just the fourth active male to own a positive record against Top-10 players. The Czech boasts a 6-5 record, including a win against No. 6 Casper Ruud at this year’s Australian Open.
Highest-Winning Percentages vs. Top 10 - Active Players
| Player | W-L |
| Novak Djokovic | 260-117 |
| Carlos Alcaraz | 36-21 |
| Jannik Sinner | 42-32 |
| Jakub Mensik | 6-5 |
| Daniil Medvedev | 47-50 |
| Francisco Cerundolo | 13-14 |
“It sounds really good,” Mensik said of his Top 10 record. “Hopefully I will keep rising as I am. It is my first [full] year on the ATP Tour, so I am just enjoying every moment playing against these top guys. Jack has been playing incredibly the last weeks, months. I knew that it was an opportunity for me, so I took it.”
While Draper’s heavy topspin forehand was key to his success in Indian Wells, the Briton had trouble powering his way through Mensik, who responded with a barrage of explosive groundstrokes. The 19-year-old also found comfort behind his serve, particularly in the second set, during which he won 86 per cent of first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and fired 13 aces.
Mensik entered Miami having not earned back-to-back tour-level wins since reaching the third round at the Australian Open. In the third round in South Florida, he will face Roman Safiullin, who rallied past Alexei Popyrin 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-5.
After claiming his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells and thus his breakthrough in the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Draper was aiming to complete the coveted ‘Sunshine Double’. Yet the 23-year-old Briton was unable to convert the sole break point chance he created in the second set of his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Mensik to spark hopes of a comeback.
In other action, Reilly Opelka produced an inspired comeback to sink 11th seed and Indian Wells runner-up Holger Rune. The 6’ 11” American fired 21 aces en route to a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) victory, reaching the third round at an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time since 2022.
The former No. 17 in the PIF ATP Rankings, who reached the final in Brisbane in January, will next face 20th seed Tomas Machac, who overcame Matteo Arnaldi 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.
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