On Wednesday afternoon, Roland Garros delivered one of its most heart-warming moments on Court 12. After 4 hours and 41 minutes of relentless tennis, 26th seed Jakub Mensik beat Mariano Navone 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (11), and as soon as the last point concluded, the former collapsed on the court, but his opponent smashed the norms to get to him.

The fifth set tiebreak took almost 25 minutes, and Mensik was cramping the entire time, while winning it by a close margin of 13-11. At the end of the match, he was hardly running between posts, just lurching. Navone was the one who was moving freely, but had no answer when it mattered.

At the end of the match, Navone did not wait at the net for his opponent to get up. He walked to Mensik’s side of the court and crouched down to congratulate him there. Doctors and physios scurried out, ice was delivered onto the court, and the applause of the crowd rolled on during the treatment. There were concerns of possible heatstroke, with Paris currently in the middle of one of the hottest weeks the tournament has seen in years.

Eventually, Mensik stood and walked away from the court himself, despite being offered a wheelchair. That information, along with anything else you learned during the afternoon, gave you an idea of the 20-year-olds’ grit. 

Of the 24 Grand Slam main-draw matches Mensik has now played, nine, or 37.5 per cent, have gone five sets. It is the best five-set rate by any active player who has played over 20 Grand Slam main-draw matches. This was not an outlier. This is simply how Mensik plays Grand Slams.

Jakub Mensik has battled several physical issues this season. Before coming to the French Open, he had withdrawn from his Monte Carlo first-round match at the last moment due to a right toe injury. Before that, in January, he had reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, his best appearance at a Grand Slam to date. He was up against Novak Djokovic, an opponent he had defeated in their previous match-up to clinch his first Masters title in Miami 2025. However, the Czech had to ultimately withdraw from the match due to an abdominal muscle injury. 

The question now is whether his body can answer the bell again. He has 48 hours to recover before facing eighth seed Alex de Minaur in the third round, an Australian who did not even play today after his second-round opponent Alexander Blockx withdrew injured, and who has gone on record saying he does not mind the heat. The contrast in physical states going into that match could not be more stark.