Jakub Menšík eliminates Andrey Rublev after a five-set drama and reaches his first Grand Slam quarterfinal
Jakub Menšík continued one of the most notable breakthroughs at this year's Roland-Garros. The twenty-year-old Czech tennis player defeated Andrey Rublev in the fourth round of the men's singles by a score of 6:3, 7:6(6), 4:6, 2:6, 6:3 and, on Court Suzanne-Lenglen in Paris, secured a place among the final eight. According to the tournament's official draw and ATP data on the seeds, Menšík was seeded 26th in Paris, while Rublev was the 11th seed, which gives the victory additional weight in a season in which the men's side of the draw has already opened up with a series of surprises.
The match had several clearly separated phases. In the first two sets Menšík looked calmer and more direct, made use of a better start to the encounter and won the second set in a tie-break, thereby pushing Rublev into a very difficult position. The Russian tennis player, known for powerful shots from the baseline and great physical persistence, did not fall apart after trailing 0:2 in sets. He turned the third and fourth sets in his favor, increasingly imposed his rhythm in longer rallies and reached a fifth set in which it seemed that the psychological advantage was shifting to his side.
In the decisive set, however, Menšík found the answer that marked his entire Paris performance. After letting a large lead slip away, he did not sink in the closing stages, but once again simplified his game, stuck to aggressive patterns and pulled away on the scoreboard when it mattered most. The final 6:3 in the fifth set confirmed that his victory was not only the consequence of a good start, but also of the ability to recover after a period in which Rublev had taken control of the match. According to AS's report, Menšík emphasized after the encounter that the feeling was “incredible” for him and that he managed to stay focused “ball by ball” against an opponent whom he described as a great fighter.
The twists that marked the encounter on Suzanne-Lenglen
The score of 6:3, 7:6(6), 4:6, 2:6, 6:3 describes well the uneven, but very intense dynamic of the encounter. The first set gave Menšík early security, because he found the balance between attack and patience that made it difficult for Rublev to enter his usual rhythm. The second set was significantly tighter and was decided in a tie-break, in which the Czech tennis player kept his composure in the final points. That very part of the match was important because it deprived Rublev of the possibility of a quick equalizer and forced him to play the rest of the encounter without the right to any more serious drop.
In the third set Rublev began to reach more often the shot with which he usually changes the course of a point, especially the forehand from the middle of the court. Menšík then had to play more defensive points than in the opening phase, and the Russian tennis player used that shift to reduce the deficit. The fourth set was Rublev's most pronounced period in the match: the 6:2 score shows that in that stretch he managed to combine pressure from the baseline with better error control. At that moment the encounter moved in the direction of a classic Grand Slam drama, in which the player who had led 2:0 must rebuild his confidence from the beginning.
The fifth set was therefore the most important indicator of Menšík's maturity. Although he already had an exhausting tournament behind him, and in front of him an opponent who has for years been part of the very top of the ATP Tour, the Czech tennis player did not allow Rublev's comeback to completely knock him out of his plan. Instead of waiting for his opponent's errors, he again took the initiative when the opportunity opened and thereby prevented Rublev from completing a major turnaround. Such an outcome is especially significant because Menšík had already shown at the same tournament how physically demanding matches can push him to the very limit.
Continuation of the tournament after an exhausting second round
Menšík's victory against Rublev gains additional context because of the way he reached the second week of Roland-Garros. According to reports from the Guardian and other media, in the second round against Mariano Navone he played almost five hours, and after the victory he ended up on the ground because of cramps and intense heat. The Guardian then reported that conditions in Paris were very demanding, with temperatures above 32 degrees Celsius, and relayed Menšík's assessment that the circumstances were “insane”. That moment sparked a broader discussion about scheduling, player recovery and playing during the hottest part of the day.
Despite such a physical blow, Menšík defeated Alex de Minaur, the eighth seed, in the third round after a very unusual start. In its coverage of the sixth day of the tournament, the Guardian recorded that De Minaur won the first set 6:0, but Menšík then turned the match around and won 0:6, 6:2, 6:2, 6:3. That victory was important for two reasons: it showed that recovery after the match with Navone was not only a medical issue, but also a mental test, and it opened the path toward Rublev as the first major test in the fourth round.
That is precisely why the Czech tennis player's Paris run is more than a single individual surprise. In several days Menšík went through a physical crisis, a poor start against a highly seeded player and a duel in which he let slip a two-set lead. Each of those problems required a different answer. Against Navone he had to withstand with his body, against De Minaur change the course of the match after a disastrous opening, and against Rublev psychologically return after failing to close the encounter in three or four sets. That sequence makes his place in the quarterfinal one of the most striking results of the men's tournament.
Rublev stopped after returning to the match
For Rublev the defeat is especially painful because after the first two sets he found a way back and came within a step of a complete turnaround. The official Roland-Garros website, in the profile of the Russian player, highlights his long-standing consistency at Grand Slam tournaments, including quarterfinals at all four biggest tournaments, as well as Masters 1000 titles in Monte Carlo in 2023 and Madrid in 2024. Rublev arrived in Paris as an established member of the top tier, a player who for years has possessed a strong reputation on clay and in high-intensity matches.
His path to the fourth round was not without pressure. The Guardian, in its coverage of the third round, stated that Rublev defeated Nuno Borges 7:5, 7:6(2), 7:6(2), which shows that even before Menšík he had a match with several tight endings. Against the Czech tennis player he again had to search for solutions in difficult circumstances. When he equalized at 2:2 in sets, he had momentum and experience on his side, but he did not manage to finish the job in the decisive stretch. That defeat continues a series of disappointments in the closing stages of major tournaments in which Rublev has often been close enough, but not stable enough for the final step forward.
In a tactical sense, Rublev showed why he remains a dangerous opponent even when the score looks unfavorable. His intensity in the third and fourth sets forced Menšík into additional risk, and stronger pressure from the baseline reduced the space in which the Czech could build points. Still, the decisive set once again opened the old question of Rublev's ability to maintain, in the biggest moments, the same clarity of decision-making that he has when chasing a deficit. Menšík used that crack and showed more calmness in the closing stages.
The Czech generation received new confirmation
Menšík's result also has broader significance for Czech tennis. According to the profile of the International Tennis Federation, he is a twenty-year-old player from Czechia who plays right-handed, and he entered professional tennis with the reputation of a major talent. After his victory against Rublev, AS emphasized that he became the youngest Czech tennis player to go so far at a Grand Slam tournament since Ivan Lendl, who as a twenty-year-old reached that stage at the US Open in 1980. Such a comparison does not mean that Menšík already has Lendl's trajectory, but it shows how rare such a result is for Czech men's tennis.
Czechia has in recent years often produced quality male and female tennis players, but in men's singles a Grand Slam quarterfinal by a young player carries special symbolism. In Paris, Menšík showed a combination of height, strength, serve and ever better patience in rallies, which is particularly important on clay. Although hard courts were often a more natural environment for him in the early part of his career, his performance at Roland-Garros shows that his game can function in slower conditions as well, provided that he manages to maintain discipline and physical freshness.
This victory is not isolated in the context of the tournament either. Before the start of the main draw, the ATP announced that Roland-Garros 2026 in the men's competition would be played from May 24 to June 7, and the list of seeds showed a strong presence of younger players among the top 32. Menšík as the 26th seed, Rafael Jodar as the 27th and Joao Fonseca as the 28th seed belong to a wave that is taking part in this tournament not only as a preview of the future, but is already changing the balance of power in the present. AS stressed that Jodar, Menšík and Fonseca, all aged 20 or younger, reached the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, giving this year's Roland-Garros a pronounced generational tone.
The quarterfinal against Joao Fonseca brings a duel of the new generation
Menšík will play in the quarterfinal against Joao Fonseca, another representative of the new generation. According to AS's report, the Brazilian tennis player defeated Casper Ruud 7:5, 7:6(9), 5:7, 6:2 and thus also qualified for the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. That means that in the next round two players will meet who have already gone through big matches, significant comebacks and the pressure that accompanies an early entry into the final stages of one of the four biggest tournaments of the season in Paris.
Fonseca had already drawn great attention earlier in the tournament with a victory against Novak Đoković. The Guardian reported that the Brazilian teenager defeated the 24-time Grand Slam champion in the third round after coming back from two sets down, by a score of 4:6, 4:6, 6:3, 7:5, 7:5. That result further changed the perception of the men's draw, especially because the Guardian stated on the same day that a very small number of players remained from the first 16 seeds. In such an environment Menšík and Fonseca do not enter the quarterfinal as a mere curiosity, but as tennis players who have already eliminated opponents with great reputations.
The duel between Menšík and Fonseca will therefore carry special weight. On one side it will be a fight for the Roland-Garros semifinal, and on the other a kind of indicator of how quickly the new generation can claim space on the biggest stage. Menšík enters that match with the experience of victories over De Minaur and Rublev, and Fonseca with victories over Đoković and Ruud. Both have already proved that they can withstand five-set dramas, but the question of recovery, calmness in key points and the ability to adapt to different rhythms of play will be just as important as the basic strokes.
Roland-Garros 2026 gets an unpredictable men's outcome
Menšík's victory fits into the broader picture of the men's tournament, which by the second week had become significantly more open than was expected at the beginning. The ATP's list of seeds confirms that Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Novak Đoković were among the highest seeds, but early results and major comebacks changed expectations. During the tournament the Guardian highlighted a series of surprises, including Fonseca's victory over Đoković and Menšík's comeback against De Minaur. In such circumstances every new five-set match means not only the passage of one player, but also an additional reshuffling of the entire draw.
For Menšík, the Roland-Garros quarterfinal is now the biggest moment of his senior career so far at Grand Slam level. It comes after a series of victories that were neither simple nor linear, which makes his result more convincing. He did not pass only through a favorable draw, but instead solved very different challenges one after another: an exhausting physical duel, a comeback against a player from the top of the seeds and five sets against Rublev, one of the most experienced hitters at the top of the ATP Tour. If before Paris he was labeled a dangerous young player, after the victory on Suzanne-Lenglen his role in men's tennis becomes significantly more serious.
Roland-Garros is often a tournament that rewards patience, endurance and the ability to repeat quality decisions over many hours of play. Against Rublev, Menšík had to show exactly that. The first two sets gave him the advantage, the third and fourth put him under the greatest pressure, and the fifth revealed how ready he is to stay in the match when the emotional direction of the encounter changes. Qualification for the quarterfinal confirms that his Paris result is not a random episode, but one of the key moments of a tournament in which the new generation is ever more loudly demanding its place.
Sources:
- User's original material – basic data about the match, the score, the stage of the competition and the place of play.
- Roland-Garros – official draw and results of the men's singles at the 2026 tournament (link)
- ATP Tour – list of seeds for Roland-Garros 2026 and duration of the main tournament (link)
- AS – report on Jakub Menšík and Joao Fonseca qualifying for the quarterfinal of Roland-Garros 2026 (link)
- The Guardian – report on conditions in Paris and Menšík's problems after the match with Mariano Navone (link)
- The Guardian – coverage of the sixth day of Roland-Garros, including Menšík's victory over Alex de Minaur, Rublev's victory over Nuno Borges and Fonseca's comeback against Novak Đoković (link)
- ITF – profile of Jakub Menšík with basic information about the player (link)
- Roland-Garros – profile of Andrey Rublev with data about his career and ATP ranking (link)