Mensik, who has beaten Titouan Droguet, Mariano Navone, Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev and Fonseca, was asked if Djokovic has offered his assistance throughout the tournament. The Czech replied: “Yeah he did, after [the] Rublev match and after [the] Fonseca match.
“Yeah, I mean, Novak is a great guy, great champion. We have a great relationship together, so I’m happy that he’s following the results and that we could stay connected at least in this way.”
Mensik was a junior player when he first met Djokovic. Looking back on that first meeting, he said: “The relationship that we had and we are having with Novak, it’s so special and I’m super thankful for that.
“Basically the time when I was still not even starting on ATP Tour, I was still a junior, he invited me [to train]. He saw some potential in me.
“Yeah, at the time, it was really, really amazing experience. Of course, at the time I had a bad movement. I was not still able to play on the Grand Slam. So at the time, it was more about getting to know the tour and how the things works.
“Actually, as I went through and having the experience on the Grand Slams, that was probably the key moment for me to take those experiences and to manage to come and to play on the Grand Slams how I’m playing.”
Mensik and Zverev have only faced each other once before, at the Madrid Open in the fourth round. Zverev only just prevailed against his younger opponent, winning 6-4, 6-7(7-4), 6-3.