Jakub Mensik beats Casper Ruud in Top 20 match and seals Czech victory over Norway | ATP tour | Tennis

United Cup

Mensik beats Ruud in Top 20 match and seals Czech victory over Norway

Krejcikova defeats Helga
January 5, 2026

Jakub Mensik secured the Czech Republic’s victory against Norway in the United Cup on Monday when he defeated fellow Top 20 star Casper Ruud 7-5, 7-6(6) in Sydney.

Victorious Mensik made his United Cup debut, playing his first match of the season. Mensik’s victory followed Barbora Krejcikova’s victory against Malene Helgo to give the Czech Republic a 2-0 victory in the Group D tie, eliminating Norway, who fell to 0-2 this week.

Mensik held his nerve late in both sets, earning a crucial break at 5-5 in the opener before serving for a one-set lead. Mensik later recovered from not serving the match at 5-4 in the second set. He trailed 3/5 in the second set tiebreak, but won five of the next six points to survive. Mensik, the winner of last year’s ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami, crushed a forehand pass cross-court when facing set point at 5/6 in the second set tiebreak.

“The first game of the season, it’s never easy,” Mensik said during his on-field interview. “It was a great fight. I am grateful for the victory. I was able to find the strength at the end in both sets, that was the most important thing.”

At 20 years and four months, Mensik is the second-youngest man to record a singles victory in United Cup history, behind 18-year-old Stefanos Sakellaridis in 2023. The world number 18 in the PIF ATP rankings improved to 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Ruud, who defeated Mensik in the second round at last year’s Australian Open.

Mensik crushed 16 aces and won 78 percent of his first serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats, compared to Ruud’s 56 percent.

Earlier, two-time Major Singles champion Krejcikova scored a winning United Cup debut in a 6-4, 6-3 win over Norway’s Helgo.

The former world number 2 will compete in the 2026 WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz season and sits at number 65 in the PIF WTA rankings after another battle with injury to close out 2025. She reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in September, a turning point in her season that only started in May after a recurring back injury.

Putting Team Czech Republic on the scoreboard 📋 pic.twitter.com/EihT4A8bFV

— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 5, 2026

Krejcikova unfortunately suffered from physical problems again and suffered a knee injury against McCartney Kessler in the third round of the China Open. She withdrew from that match and later revealed that her injury was worse than previously thought. Krejcikova also retired from her first match at the WTA 125 in Limoges in December.

Krejcikova’s season-opening match against world number 532 Helgo proved to be an ideal return.

“I haven’t played for a long time and the injury I had was very bad and very unfortunate,” Krejcikova said. “I’m very happy to be here, to be able to play, to be able to enjoy it, to be able to compete. I’m very happy to finally be able to finish a match.”

Helgo, 26, has punched above her weight in the United Cup in the past. She pushed both Caroline Garcia and Donna Vekic to three sets in 2024 and took advantage of a slow start from Krejcikova to take an early 3-1 lead.

But then Krejcikova, who played the one hour and 38 minute match with a supportive wrap on her left knee, erased a break point opportunity in a five-deuce fifth game and righted the ship by winning eight of the next nine games.

“The knee is getting better. It took a while, but it’s getting better every day and I’m very happy with that,” Krejcikova said.

Australia and the Czech Republic are both at 1-0 in Group D. The mixed doubles match between the Czech Republic and Norway is the next match at the Ken Rosewall Arena.