Mensik reached a career-high of 48th in the world, in a year where he made his first ATP final, losing to Karen Khachanov in Doha.

Later in the year, Mensik reached the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals, taking down Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov, before falling to defeat against Novak Djokovic.

He was hoping to take that momentum into the new year, when he faced off against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the Brisbane quarter-finals.

It wasn’t to be for the 19-year-old, however, as the big-serving Frenchman won 7-5, 7-6, knocking Mensik out of the Brisbane International.

Mensik was frustrated after losing the match, with many fans now criticizing the youngster for his reaction.

Fans criticize Jakub Mensik for handshake with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard after losing in Brisbane

After winning in straight sets, Mpetshi Perricard waited at the net to shake Mensik’s hand, but the Czech youngster didn’t seem too interested, as he barely looked at his opponent during their notably brief handshake.

Many fans took to X, to criticize the ATP world number 48, for the frosty handshake.

“Be better [Jakub] Mensik,” one fan said.

“Keep doing you Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.”

“Mensik showed his true colours today, and they were quite disappointing,” another added.

“That was disgraceful from Mensik,” said one fan.

“Mensik is such a sore loser,” said another fan on X.

One fan suggested that the Czech star may still be frustrated with Mpetshi Perricard after a line call from a Challenger event in 2023.

“Please don’t tell me Mensik is still holding a grudge over the call from a year and a half ago, that he was totally wrong about,” they said.

One X user looked back at the actions of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray during their time on tour as an interesting point of comparison to Mensik.

“Love when a serve bot exposes someone’s poor returning, or lack of concentration, and they act salty as if they’re the better tennis player,” he said.

“That’s what made the big four so great, they never looked down on the likes of [Ivo] Karlovic, [John] Isner & co, did their homework, and bullied them.”

How did the ‘big four’ fare against big servers Ivo Karlovic and John Isner?

Mensik may have been frustrated by the big serving of Mpetshi Perricard, but tennis isn’t just about beautiful backhands, and stunning dropshots.

Some players will serve to their hearts content, and the young Frenchman has shown that he can do so at the highest level.

As one fan explained, the best players in the world find a way to adjust their games, to better compete against players with big serves, such as Karlovic, and Isner.

But just how well did the likes of Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, and Murray fare against the biggest servers on the ATP Tour?

The so-called ‘big four’, held a remarkable combined record of 60 wins to just nine losses against Isner and Karlovic during their time in tennis.

Djokovic was the only one to hold a losing record to one of the big servers, as he won one and lost two to the big Croat.

His latest defeat came in the 2015 Doha quarter-finals, when he lost 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, having lost in Madrid seven years earlier.

Mpetshi Perricard will try to put the frosty handshake behind him as he prepares for his Brisbane International semi-final against fellow big server Reilly Opelka on January 4.

Related Topics