Swiss Indoors Basel Round-Up | Jakub Mensik is pushed to the limit by Swiss teen, while Davidovich Fokina and Brooksby steady the ship

With the ATP Tour fully back in Europe, the Swiss Open Indoors began this Monday with first-round matches, as we enter the final stage of the season. As it is the last week with ATP 500 tournaments—running in parallel with the Vienna Open—only a final couple of tournaments remain for the tour's stars, who are looking to rack up points before the season closes.

The return to the European indoors was marked by the victory of the 8th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina over the Italian Lorenzo Sonego, while the 2025 Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik had to work extra hard to survive local wildcard Henry Bernet. On the other hand, Jenson Brooksby brought joy to the Americans with a convincing victory over Alexandre Muller.

The World No. 18 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina had a great debut against the Italian Lorenzo Sonego (No. 45), taking a tight match in straight sets. The Spaniard was effective, winning 79% of points on his first serve—compared to 67% for his rival—although he had difficulty capitalizing on his opportunities against an opponent who managed to hold his own from the baseline.

In the first set, Sonego was dominant early on, with an early break and good service games that put him up 3-0. The Spaniard created several break opportunities throughout the set, but Sonego managed to fend them off, several of them with aces (9 total in the first set). Davidovich Fokina managed to recover the break in the 7th game and managed to maintain parity until the tie-break, where the Spaniard's seniority came through to take the first set 7-6(2).

Heading into the second set, opportunities were on both sides, but Davidovich Fokina was again more aggressive and took the initiative on points. The 26-year-old Spaniard needed a single break to take the set—and the win—7-6(2), 6-4. Davidovich hit a total of 23 winners, while Sonego had none, although Sonego also led in unforced errors, with 15 against 11 for the Italian. Davidovich will face the American Jenson Brooksby in the second round.

The World No. 55 Jenson Brooksby has had an upward trend in 2025 and recently reached the semi-finals at the Tokyo Open—just a few weeks ago. His time in Shanghai was not ideal—falling in the second round to Tallon Griekspoor—but back in Europe, he rediscovered his level. He defeated the Frenchman Alexandre Muller (No. 44) 6-4, 6-3 and secured his passage to the second round of the tournament.

The 24-year-old continues to accumulate points late in the season, now at World No. 51 in the live ranking, just one win away from returning to the Top-50 after two and a half years. The American was imposing, winning 84% of points on his first serve and hitting 6 aces in total, in addition to a much more aggressive game than his rival, with 18 winners against only 9 for Muller. Brooksby conceded no break opportunities to his rival, while capitalizing on every one of the three break chances he had in the match.

Jakub Mensik (No. 19) had to work extra hard to defeat the surprising local wildcard Henry Bernet (No. 481), who put on a respectable presentation against the 2025 Miami Open champion. The Swiss was the Australian Open Junior champion at the start of the season and reached the No. 1 spot in that category. Known for a game that appeals to the public, featuring a one-handed backhand—something increasingly uncommon and which has previously earned him comparisons to his compatriot Roger Federer.

It was a battle lasting two and a half hours, which ended with the Czech's victory 7-6(1), 6-7(7), 6-3. Mensik totaled 18 aces and won 82% of points on his first serve. Throughout the first two sets, there were no breaks for either player, and both sets were decided in tie-breaks; the first was comfortably for Mensik, and in the second, Bernet won his first ATP-level set, even saving a match point.

Everything seemed to point to a tight finish in the third set, but a hesitant start by the local teenager allowed Mensik to secure the first break of the match immediately and lead 3-0. From there, the Czech showed his greater experience and held onto his serve, ultimately closing out a hard-fought three-set victory. In the second round, he awaits the winner between Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Joao Fonseca.