Jakub Mensik brought his penchant for five-set victories to the Grand Slam stage once again on Tuesday evening at Wimbledon.
The 15th-seeded Czech outlasted home hope Toby Samuel 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(10-7) in a four-hour, 21-minute first-round battle on the All England Club’s No. 3 Court. Mensik won five of the final six points of the match to seal a Match Tie-break victory against the surging Samuel, who last week reached his first ATP Tour semi-final at the Lexus Eastbourne Open.
The 20-year-old Mensik has now won four matches in five sets in 2026, starting with his defeat of Pablo Carreno Busta at January’s Australian Open. At Roland Garros in May, the Czech had to be pushed off court in a wheelchair after defeating Mariano Navone in a four-hour, 41-minute second-round clash played out in sweltering Paris conditions. Despite that physical toll, Mensik also outlasted Andrey Rublev in a five-set fourth-round match en route to his first Grand Slam semi-final.
Mensik will now attempt to back up his marathon win on the Wimbledon grass in a second-round meeting with Grigor Dimitrov or qualifier Dane Sweeny. The two-time ATP Tour titlist Mensik is bidding to reach the third round at the grass major for the second consecutive year.
There were also first-round triumphs for Mensik’s fellow seeds Alex de Minaur, Alexander Bublik and Arthur Fils on Tuesday. The fifth-seeded De Minaur breezed past Roman Andres Burruchaga 7-6(5), 6-1, 6-0 and will next take on Adrian Mannarino, who downed Titouan Droguet 6-2, 6-4, 6-1. The 10th-seeded Bublik rallied past Thanasi Kokkinakis 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(10), 6-3, 6-4 to advance to face qualifier Kyrian Jacquet, a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(2) winner against Vilius Gaubas.
Meanwhile the 20th seed Fils dismantled Raphael Collignon 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 in his first match since May after a hip injury. The Frenchman will take on 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini or three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka for a third-round spot, while Ugo Humbert could not join his countryman Fils in the second round. Zizou Bergs backed up his victory against Humbert in last weekend’s Eastbourne final by defeating the Frenchman again, this time with a 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 scoreline.
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