Jakub Mensik claimed it was “insane” for players to compete in such hot conditions at Roland Garros and after collapsing on court due to cramps and being escorted back to the locker room in a wheelchair at the end of his dramatic 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (11) second-round win over Mariano Navone.
“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, the 26th seed and one of the most talented young players on the tour, appeared to be well on his way to a comfortable victory on Wednesday as he established a 2-1 lead in sets over the durable Argentinian Navone, but his condition rapidly deteriorated in the fourth set.
As the 32C heat sapped his energy, Mensik said he began to feel sick on the court, meaning he could no longer take in electrolytes and water, and his body began 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 a dramatic, extended fifth-set tie-break, Mensik struck a forehand winner to win the match before collapsing on the court. The Czech had to be helped up by medical staff after appearing to suffer from full-body cramps. After leaving the court walking by himself, he was put into a medical wheelchair and escorted back to the locker room. Mensik said he had already begun to feel better and would be ready for Friday’s third-round match against Alex de Minaur, the eighth seed.
Mensik is not the only player to struggle in the unusually hot conditions in Paris throughout this week. Casper Ruud similarly struggled with heat illness in his first-round match and also appeared to be on his way out before recovering in the fifth set to reach the second round. Other players have simply toiled to find their best levels in such difficult conditions.
Novak Djokovic, however, had no such worries as he worked his way through four gruelling sets to reach the third round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (7), 6-3 win over the talented Frenchman Valentin Royer.
This was an encouraging outing in some ways for Djokovic, whose level improved compared with his scratchy first-round match against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, and he impressively regained control after Royer played an inspired tie-break in front of a rowdy home crowd to force a fourth set. However, at 39 years old, Djokovic used up a significant amount of energy during three hours and 44 minutes on court.
Quick GuideDavidovich Fokina claims coach left Paris ‘without a word’
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Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has claim that his coach, Mariano Puerta, suddenly left Paris ‘without saying a word’ after the Spaniard’s first-round win at the French Open.
Davidovich Fokina, the 23rd seed in Paris, added that he had lunch with Puerta – a former Roland Garros runner-up as a player – before resting ahead of his next match. Puerta told him he was feeling unwell and returned to his hotel.
‘Two or three hours later in the afternoon, he messaged me that he will not continue,’ Davidovich Fokina said on Wednesday after his second-round loss to Thiago Agustín Tirante. He also claims Puerta did not inform the rest of the coaching staff before flying out to Miami. The coach has not yet responded publicly to Davidovich Fokina’s comments.
‘I heard that he did that a couple of times before with other players,’ Davidovich Fokina said during his post-match press conference. ‘It seems normal for him … I thought he was a very good person. It was my fault to hire him.’
Puerta is seen as a controversial figure in tennis, having served bans in two separate doping cases during his playing career, the first of which came four months after he lost in the 2005 French Open final against Rafael Nadal. Associated Press
“When you play a three-and-a-half-hour match on clay, it’s long and very exhausting,” he 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.”
Djokovic, the third seed, will next face 19-year-old João Fonseca, seeded 28th, after the Brazilian recovered from two sets down to defeat Dino Prizmic 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.
