ROLAND-GARROS
18 May - 7 June 2026
Six months ago, as the season began, we were all revelling in the supremacy of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. This was the new golden age of men’s tennis after the Federer, Nadal and Djokovic years. Who could touch them? After 10 days in Paris, Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik have proved that they are more than capable of stepping up to claim the favourite’s spot.
Day 10 Under the lights: Mind over matter
Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik have both proved they are more than capable taking on the 'favourite' label.
Something has clicked for both of them in Paris. They have learned things about themselves that they never imagined possible. That knowledge has led them to a previously undiscovered vein of form and now one of them will reach his first Grand Slam semifinal.
“What changed is doing a lot of physical stuff and working hard,” Fonseca explained. “I think the mentality changed a lot: focusing on the points and not on the end of the match. It's the longest swing for me of the year. I'm away from home since Monte-Carlo, but I think a lot of work came. Mentality improved a lot.”
That mentality allowed him to recover from the emotional high of beating Djokovic on Friday to refocus and outplay Casper Ruud on Sunday. He had gown up fast over the course of the first week.
Mensik, too, tapped new reserves of mental and physical endurance to get this far. One year older than Fonseca at 20 and ranked three places higher at No.27, he looked out for the count after taking more than four and a half hours to beat Mariano Navone in the broiling heat of the second round. With almost nothing left in the tank – or so he thought – he was back 48 hours later to take down Alex De Minaur after losing the first set 6-0. Two days later, he fought an Andrey Rublev comeback to survive another five-set epic.
For Mensik, it is all about mind over matter. Against De Minaur, he forced himself through the exhaustion and was then able to play freely. Against Rublev, he forced himself to ignore the Russian’s fightback and take charge in the fifth set.
“He's great fighter. He showed that,” Mensik said. “Basically after being two sets to love down, he came back and he really played unbelievable tennis. Even if I was 2-0 up, I felt in some moments that I'm actually losing. I'm just happy that in the fifth set I came back and took the momentum back on my side.”
It sounds simple but it takes many players years to acquire that sort of mental strength in a best-of-five set match. Mensik has learned it in a week and a half.
Watching who proves stronger, mentally and physically, Tuesday night will be fascinating. Their only previous match was two years ago at the Next Gen finals, which is played over a shorter scoring format (first to four games wins the set). Fonseca just edged it in five, tight tiebreak sets. But that was before both of them grew up.