Mensik Labels French Open Heat ‘Insane’ After Collapsing at End of Five-Set Win
Jakub Mensik described the conditions at Roland Garros as “insane” after collapsing on court due to cramps following his dramatic 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (11) second-round victory over Mariano Navone. The 26th seed was escorted back to the locker room in a wheelchair after the match, which lasted nearly five hours in 32°C temperatures. Novak Djokovic also called on organizers to use common sense and move more matches to later in the day during extreme heat.
“It’s insane to play in this weather and especially in front of the sun,” Mensik said. “To be there for more than four and a half hours, that’s just insane, and even with the breaks you don’t have that much time, the ballboy cannot bring you a towel during the changeover. You have just one minute, which obviously before, when you sit, it’s already just 30 seconds. So there is not that much time to cool yourself down.”
Mensik, one of the most talented young players on the tour, appeared to be heading for a comfortable victory after establishing a 2-1 lead in sets over the durable Argentinian Navone. However, his condition rapidly deteriorated in the fourth set as the heat sapped his energy. He began to feel sick on the court, unable to take in electrolytes and water, and his body started to falter.
Afterwards, Mensik said he should have been allowed more time to collect himself between points: “Here it’s super-strict which I totally respect, but obviously in this heat and in these conditions it’s insane. The rules are rules, of course, but normally when a spectator will watch, he will be like: ‘OK, give him mercy, five more seconds, 10 more seconds,’ which obviously I didn’t have. I [received a warning and] lost my first serve because of that.”
At the end of an extended fifth-set tie-break, Mensik struck a forehand winner to win the match before collapsing on the court. Medical staff helped him up after he suffered from full-body cramps. He left the court walking by himself but was later placed in a wheelchair and escorted to the locker room. Mensik said he had already begun to feel better and would be ready for Friday’s third-round match against eighth seed Alex de Minaur.
Mensik is not the only player to struggle in the unusually hot conditions in Paris this week. Casper Ruud also battled heat illness in his first-round match, recovering in the fifth set to reach the second round. Other players have found it difficult to perform at their best in such conditions.
Novak Djokovic, however, had no such worries as he advanced to the third round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (7), 6-3 win over Frenchman Valentin Royer. The match lasted three hours and 44 minutes, and Djokovic’s level improved compared to his first-round outing. After Royer forced a fourth set with an inspired tie-break in front of a rowdy home crowd, Djokovic regained control impressively.
“When you play a three-and-a-half-hour match on clay, it’s long and very exhausting,” Djokovic said. “At least in my opinion. So physically I spent quite a bit of energy today on a very hot day. Very challenging conditions. It was obviously my fault I didn’t finish in straight sets, because I was break up twice in the third. [I was] just too passive on those points, and he took his chances, and he got the crowd support he was looking for.”
The Serb also suggested moving matches later in the day during hot conditions. “Is that ideal to go over midnight? Yeah, it’s not,” he said. “But if you have certain days that you have extreme heat and conditions, then maybe that’s something to consider.”
Djokovic, the third seed, will next face 19-year-old João Fonseca, seeded 28th, after the Brazilian came from two sets down to defeat Dino Prizmic 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.
