(VIDEO) Andrey Rublev forgets racquets in bizarre Roland Garros moment that delays Mensik clash

Andrey Rublev went out to play the fourth round of the French Open against Jakub Mensik, but he left a particular moment on his entry to the court: bizarrely, the Russian forgot his racquets — which were being strung — delaying the start of the clash.

Rublev and Mensik stepped onto the court this afternoon at the Suzanne-Lenglen Court — shortly after Mirra Andreeva had completed her victory in the women’s draw. However, the match suffered a slight delay due to Rublev forgetting his racquets, which kept the action paused for a few minutes.

The former world No. 5 entered the court holding a child’s hand and carrying two bags in his arms, but he did not have his racquets with him — apparently because he had forgotten to bring them from the stringing area — and the Russian can be seen being forced to ask the umpire to have his racquets sent to the court.

Rublev spent a couple of minutes on court waiting for his racquets to be brought to him, while his coach Marat Safin looked on seriously from the stands, waiting for the scheduled duel to begin. Meanwhile, Mensik kept moving and warming up before the start of the clash, which had an unusual situation caused by Rublev’s oversight.

Rublev’s distraction carried over into the start of play, as the Russian dropped his first service game shortly after the match began. Mensik took the break and held his advantage with his serve, closing out a first set that was tight, but where the difference was made by the early break in favour of the Czech, who eventually pulled ahead 6-3 — while the match continues to develop on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, the second most important venue at Roland Garros.

Both players know they have a strong opportunity in the draw to go deep, and they already look like two of the names with the strongest credentials to dream of the title after the early exit of several favourites. Although neither has gone further than a Grand Slam quarter-final, both already hold Masters 1000 titles — something only Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud can also claim among those still alive at Roland Garros.

The winner of the Mensik vs Rublev duel will advance to the quarter-finals, where they will face the winner between Casper Ruud (15th seed) and João Fonseca (28th seed).