(September 14, 2025) DELRAY BEACH, FL – Twenty-year-old Jakub Mensik clinched Czechia’s berth in the Davis Cup Final 8 in the decisive fifth rubber in the Second Round Qualifying tie. Mensik defeated Frances Tiafoe, 6-1, 6-4, to secure the 3-2 win for Czechia.
Czechia advances to the eight-nation Davis Cup Final 8 in November in Bologna, Italy. Meanwhile, the U.S. awaits its draw for the 2026 Qualifying round, which will feature a home-and-away tie in February.
Doubles began on day 2 of the Davis Cup tie between the US and Czechia on Saturday afternoon. Originally scheduled for the Czechs were Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek. Captain Tomas Berdych of the Czech team substituted Jakub Mensik for Pavlasek to face Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair with the USA failing to capitalize on any of the three set points in the 12th game. Forwarding to the tiebreaker, Czechia held a set point that they could not take advantage of, and Team USA took the tiebreaker 7-6, (8-6).
There was a slight sprinkle of rain during the set, which made the court a little slippery, and on one point, both Machac and Mensik slipped on the same point. Machac took a medical time out just after the fifth game of the first set for his thigh and groin area.
An approaching thunderstorm halted play with Team USA up 7-6 (6), 3-4, and the umpire announced that everyone had to leave the stadium to take shelter. After two hours and 16 minutes, play resumed.
Czechia dodged a break point on Mensik’s serve at 4-4 and held for 5-4. The Czechs broke Krajicek’s serve to level the match at 6-7, 7-5.
The US opened the decider with a break at love but had to fight off a break point in the next game to go up 2-0. The Czechs won the next three games.
Forwarding to the ninth game, Ram and Krajicek break serve and then held out the win 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4.
“It’s so special for us to represent our country,” said Ram. “It’s only my second home tie.”
“It’s pretty cool to just just to be able to exhibit what doubles can be and how entertaining it can be.”
On what made the difference in the match: “Honestly, I think similar to what you said when we played the Spain and the Olympics is that this is what we do,” said Ram. “This is what we do day and day out for a living, and we’ve done it for years and we’ve practiced it in some of the stuff that you know, the points that we get into, we practice those scenarios and we really do our best to hone in on it. And I think we trust ourselves in the biggest moments to not have to hit miraculous shots to win. And I think that’s a big, big difference.”
In the second match of the day, the number ones of each country faced off – Taylor Fritz of the US versus Jiri Lehecka of Czechia.
Lehecka came out gaining a break of serve in the third game and fought off a break point in the tenth game but served out the set 6-4.
Fritz began a comeback by breaking serve in the second game to take a 2-0 lead in the second set, extending it to 3-0. In Fritz’s next sets of service games, he was constantly having to fight off break points. He held on for the set 6-3.
Lehecka won the third set 6-4 to clinch the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 and send the tie into a deciding fifth rubber.
In the deciding rubber, Jakub Mensik won the first 12 points of the match and went on to win the first set over Frances Tiafoe easily 6-1. The second set began with both men exchanging breaks of serve, but Mensik broke Tiafoe’s serve in the ninth game of the set and held on for the 6-1, 6-4 win and a trip to the Davis Cup Final 8 in November.
Day 1 Results
Jiri Lehecka (CZE) d. Frances Tiafoe (USA), 6-3, 6-2; Scorecard
Taylor Fritz (USA) d. Jakub Mensik (CZE), 6-4, 6-3; Scorecard
Day 2 Results
Austin Krajicek/Rajeev Ram (USA) d. Tomas Machac/Mensik (CZE), 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4; Scorecard
Lehecka (CZE) d. Fritz (USA), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; Scorecard
Mensik (CZE) d. Tiafoe (USA), 6-1, 6-4; Scorecard
More to follow….
