Opponent of Alex de Minaur battles extreme heat in four-hour marathon win
Ian Chadband
Paris: Alex de Minaur’s charmed life at Roland-Garros continues after his next opponent, Jakub Mensik, fainted on the pitch in extreme heat and was taken to the medical room in a wheelchair.
While De Minaur enjoyed a shutout on Wednesday after second-round opponent Alexander Blockx was injured in training, potential third-round opponents were forced to strain for four hours and 41 minutes in what Mensik described as “crazy conditions”.
The Czech Republic’s 26th seed emerged victorious after fighting back to a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (13-11) victory over Argentinian Mariano Navone but was struck in the back and unable to extricate himself from the dirt for several minutes amid alarming scenes on Court No 6.
Somehow, cramping up before scoring the final point, Mensik managed to hit the winning forehand before collapsing to the floor.
Medical staff placed an ice towel on his neck and chest and an ice pack on his forehead before helping him to his feet, but he had only taken a few steps towards the locker room when he was placed in the wheelchair.
That was less than 48 hours before he was due to play de Minaur, one of the fittest, fastest players on the circuit and who enjoyed turning this into a physical trial.
Mensik was fuming from the ordeal in the heat.
“It’s crazy to play in this weather, especially in front of the sun,” he said. “It was crazy to be there for over four and a half hours.
“Even if you have breaks, you don’t have a lot of time. You only have a minute, and when you sit down it’s only 30 seconds anyway. You don’t have a lot of time to cool yourself down.”
But Mensik, who became the last man to beat world No.1 Jannik Sinner in February, later insisted he would be ready for Friday’s third-round duel.
“Even though it seemed scary in the end, after 30 minutes in the changing rooms, when I got out of the sun, I started to feel a lot better. I’m here, I feel pretty good,” he said, admitting that his “body was shutting down.”
Mensik said he took an ice bath after the match and did some rest work in the gym.
“I’d say I’m feeling pretty good; I’m just getting my strength back now, I’m drinking plenty of fluids and I’ll be fine,” he said.
“Alex has a similar style of play to Navone today, so of course it will be very, very difficult to put him under pressure, but I’m in pretty good shape here, I feel in really good shape, so I’ll do my best to keep fighting and get the W.”
This all spells good news for de Minaur, who has needed just three sets so far in the England qualifier against Toby Samuel and is just one win away from reaching the last 16.
Serbian great Novak Djokovic placed ice packs around his neck and on top of his head during the changeover to stay cool amid a Paris heatwave.
Djokovic, 39, was pushed for more than 3.5 hours by 74th-ranked French player Valentin Royer, 15 years his junior, before advancing to the third round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3 victory.
For the fourth consecutive day of this year’s tournament, the temperature rose above 32 degrees.
“When you play a three-and-a-half-hour match on clay, it’s very long and very tiring,” Djokovic said. “These days have been really, really challenging for a lot of players.”
Djokovic suggested that organizers should consider moving more matches to later hours of the day and night on days of extreme heat.
“This shouldn’t be a problem in the grand slams because we have so many venues,” Djokovic said. “If you have certain days with extreme temperatures and conditions, then maybe that’s something to consider.”
Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, the 15th seed, beat Katie Volynets 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-3 and extended her winning streak to 13 matches, but she also felt the brutality of the conditions in her match, which lasted about three hours.
“I’m very happy that I didn’t cramp or faint during this match,” Kostyuk said. “It wasn’t easy for everyone.”
AAP, AP
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