© TenisJeferson – X
Rising Czech tennis star Jakub Mensik, 18, didn’t take well losing the first set of his Miami Masters qualifying match against Lukas Klein and nearly hit a ball boy with his racket in a moment of frustration.
Mensik, who is currently enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 70 in the world, was playing in Miami for the first time this year as he defeated Luca Nardi in his qualifying opener before taking on Klein.
Against Klein, Mensik entered as the favorite considering his recent results but lost a very tight first set after the Slovak hit a forehand return on his set point at 7-6 in the first-set tie-break.
As an angry Mensik was walking toward his bench, he threw his racket toward the chair umpire’s chair. In that direction, a ball boy was standing but fortunately Mensik’s racket missed the ball boy and ended up only hitting the chair.
Jakub Mensik about to kill the ball boy😂 pic.twitter.com/TaNZRsYmVV
— TenisJefferson (@BetsJeffrey) March 19, 2024
Mensik lost to Klein after nearly hitting a ball boy with his racket
In the first set, Mensik saved a break point in the sixth game but also missed out on his first break point in the 11th game as the opener had to be resolved in a tie-break – where Klein missed out on two consecutive set points at 6-4 but then earned his third set point and converted it to win a very tight opener.
After a first set without a single break, the first break points of the second set were only seen in the seventh game when Mensik saved two break points. In the 11th game of the second set, the first break of the match finally happened after Klein broke Mensik to go 6-5 up.
Up by a set and having a chance to serve out for the match, Klein managed to get the job done after realizing his first match point in the 12th game.
For Mensik – who made his first ATP final at an ATP 500 event in Dubai last month – it was certainly disappointing to fail to qualify for the Miami main draw.
