Mensik is the only player under 20 ranked in the ATP top 50, but fellow teenagers Learner Tien (80) and Joao Fonseca (96) are not behind.

After making his first tour-level final in Doha last February and earning five Top 10 wins, the young Czech wants more scalps and breakthroughs in 2025 – with Mensik comparing himself to Jannik Sinner.

As he prepares to make a big run at the ABN Amro Open in Rotterdam, Mensik has sent a statement of intent to the rest of the tour.

Jakub Mensik ready for big 2025 season

Mensik started 2024 in 167th in the ATP rankings, before ending the year inside the top 50.

Now, the teenager suggested he is ready to launch an assault on the upper echelons of the game.

He told the ATP’s website: “Last year I played with no pressure. Do I feel more expectation now? Yes. But it doesn’t impact me. I feel really good on the court and I feel really great where I want to be on the Tour.

“I’m improving myself, my game. I feel confident. I am just enjoying playing the best players in the world at the best events. I learned a lot of things in my first year.

“I have had a lot of experiences with a year of new tournaments and travel. The first year is important because now I know what to expect from different tournaments.

“I can choose this year where I want to go, what feels right. I am ready for more.”

Mensik excited by new wave of talent after Alcaraz and Sinner

Mensik lined up against Fonseca, 20-year-olds Alex Michelsen and Arthur Fils, Tien, and more, at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah in December – in what he described as a “super strong” field.

And the 6ft 4in Czech believes the future is bright for this next wave of talent, hot on the heels of four-time slam winner Carlos Alcaraz (21) and world number one Sinner (23).

He added: “This year of Next Gen was super strong. You could see that in Australia where a lot of us played really well and had very good runs.

“I knew them through juniors but I hadn’t seen many of them for a few years. So we came back and it was nice to compete against each other again and to spend time as friends. It was really good.”

Mensik narrowly lost in the group stages of the Next Gen Finals, with Fonseca winning the tournament in impressive style.

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