Jakub Mensik spoke about Novak Djokovic after reaching the Roland Garros semi-finals.
Mensik beat Joao Fonseca in straight sets to reach the last-four of a major tournament for the first time in his career.
The 20-year-old has achieved one of his best career results in Paris, alongside Mensik beating Djokovic to win his first Masters 1000 title in Miami last year.
Following his latest win at Roland Garros, Mensik was asked about Djokovic, as he explained what his relationship with the 24-time Grand Slam champion is like.
Jakub Mensik describes his relationship with Novak Djokovic as ‘so special’
In his post-match press conference after reaching the Roland Garros semi-final, Mensik was asked about Djokovic, who lost to Fonseca earlier in this year’s tournament.
Mensik described his relationship with Djokovic as ‘so special’, revealing the time when he was invited to train with the Serbian as a junior.
“The relationship that we had and are having with Novak is so special,” said Mensik. “I am so thankful for that. Basically at the time when I was still not even starting on the ATP Tour, I was still a junior, he invited me [to train with him]. He saw some potential in me.
“At the time it was a really amazing experience. Of course at the time, I was not able to play at the Grand Slams. So [his advice] was more about to get to know the Tour and how things work.
“Actually as I went through, and having the experience of the Grand Slams, that was probably the key moment for me to take those experiences and manage my game to play how I am playing.”
When did a Czech player last reach the Roland Garros final?
Mensik is now within one win of the Roland Garros final and achieving something that no man from his country has done in 34 years.
While there have been Czech women reaching the Roland Garros final in recent years, including Barbora Krejcikova winning the title in 2021, it has not been the same for the men.
The last Czech man to reach the final of Roland Garros is Petr Korda, who is the father of current ATP player Sebastian Korda, having lost to Jim Courier in the 1992 championship match.
Korda is also the last Czech man to win a Grand Slam singles title, which came at the 1998 Australian Open.
The last Czech man to win the Roland Garros singles title is Ivan Lendl, who won the Paris major three times in his career, with his last coming in 1987.
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Mensik will be hoping to end this drought for his nation, starting by playing Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals.
This will be a second meeting between Mensik and Zverev, with the latter winning their previous encounter at the Madrid Open last month.