What has never been seen before on a tennis court occurred this Thursday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where the Next Gen ATP Finals, tournament that began to be held in 2017 and brings together the eight best players of the season aged 20 or younger. The protagonist was the Czech Jakub Mensik, This year he had some good results on the big circuit: he reached the final of the ATP 250 in Doha – he lost it to Karen Khachanov – and reached 65th place in the world ranking.
Mensik, born on September 1, 2005 in Prostějov, had lost in five sets in his debut in the blue group against the American Learner Tien and needed a victory against the Frenchman Arthur Son, finalist of the last edition, to direct the classification to the semifinals of the competition in which the sets are played to four games. However, things did not go well for him. He lost the first two sets 4-2 and 4-3 (7-4) and, before the start of the third, A moment as unusual as it was unprecedented was experienced in the Arab city.
Mensik asked for a few minutes to go to the bathroom, the famous toilet break which is within the rules of the ITF, and they intercepted it right there to carry out an anti-doping control. A test in the middle of the game? Yes, that’s how bizarre it reads. Upon returning to the court, full of anger, the Czech was heard arguing about this situation with the chair umpire Ignacio Forcadell, although the situation did not escalate.
Finally, Fils, who had also lost on the opening day, won in straight sets and will seek to seal his place in the semis when this Friday he faces Tien, another who has a victory and a loss. Meanwhile, Mensik, already eliminated, will close his participation when he faces the Brazilian João Fonseca (2-0), who has secured his place in the next stage.
In turn, this Friday the red group will be defined. The American Alex Michelsen, another who has already made it into the top four of the tournament, will clash with the Chinese Juncheng Shang (0-2), already eliminated, while the Frenchman Luca Van Assche (1-1) and the American Nishesh Basavareddy ( 1-1) the classification will be played head to head.