From helping hand and idol worship to Shanghai showdown: Jakub Mensik looks to dethrone his hero Novak Djokovic

Jakub Mensik has long been a rising star in the tennis world and one of the real success stories coming the fore in 2024. But his rise now comes full circle with a battle with his idol Novak Djokovic.

With Rafael Nadal announcing his retirement this morning, players will wonder when is the last time they will play their idols and for Mensik, it has been a shellshocking route with his. He said that out of the blue, Djokovic called him to offer advice, contacts and even invited him to train with him.

Well known for helping the next generation and other tennis players despite to some having a fairly polarising image, he gave Mensik the tools now he has to use them against him.

"We were taking stock when Jakub received a video on his phone from a Serbian number that he didn’t know," said Mensik's coach Tomas Justefus to L'Equipe.

"He did not hesitate to share his knowledge and contacts. We had closed doors in front of us, Novak opened them."

"I first thought it was a hoax, but it was really him. Novak is my childhood idol, you can imagine my joy." He continued: "Weight, lunch, recovery… Everything he did, I did.

"I understood a lot of things there. I observed him, I tried to analyse his functioning, how he warms up, stretches, recovers. He recommended them (contacts) to us and gave us their number. Many things we put in place were thanks to him.”

They previously also trained together with Djokovic reaching out and inviting him to Belgrade and Montenegro to help prepare with him both on and off the court.

"It was after 2022, Australian Open finals. He knew that he was my biggest idol, so he invited me to Belgrade and then after to Montenegro to spend some days with him practising, you know, doing all the stuff off the court also.

"It's really nice that one of the best players in history invited me and I had that opportunity to play against him, to practice with him. So all of these experiences and advice for the future and for matches are just really good."