Australian Open: 16-year-old collapses several times in the junior final

Status: 2:39 p.m | Reading time: 2 minutes

Jakub Mensik is pushed off the field” />

Et was a real battle between 17-year-old Bruno Kuzuhara and his opponent Jakub Mensik, who was a year younger, in the junior final of the Australian Open.

Over 3:41 hours, the two gave nothing. In the end, the American Kuzuhara prevailed 7: 6 (9: 7), 6: 7 (6: 8) and 7: 5 – also because he had the greater reserves of strength.

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They had long since been used up at Mensik. The Czech could hardly stand at the end of the third round. The last game was particularly dramatic. After a long rally at 30:30, Mensik, plagued by leg cramps, went down for the first time. He managed to get up briefly using his racquet for support, but immediately sank back onto the court.

The referee punished this as exceeding the time limit and warned the 16-year-old, which meant losing the first serve. Mensik straightened up again, his face visibly contorted in pain, and desperately tried to stretch. That didn’t help either: he served a double fault at 30:40.

Double fault to defeat

Before the subsequent match point, Mensik collapsed again. A surcharge did not want to go over the net afterwards. He ended the game with another double fault – and finally collapsed. His opponent inquired about his well-being, but it wasn’t enough for more than a brief handshake.

“It’s an unfortunate way to win. I wish Jakub a speedy recovery. It was a great fight,” said Kuzuhara. At this point, Mensik was no longer on the pitch. He was treated by paramedics and wheeled off the field in a wheelchair. He was unable to attend the awards ceremony.