Jakub Mensik won the second title of his career by beating a red-hot Sebastian Baez 6-3, 7-6(7) in the ASB Classic final on Saturday afternoon. Mensik came back from a 6-3 deficit in the second set tiebreak and triumphed after one hour and 22 minutes.
“I would say it was a great start to the year,” said the 20-year-old Czech. “I am super happy that after my preparation and preseason, in which you are clearly not in the rhythm and go to the new season with a lot of energy, I showed the performance I wanted. I am super happy with the victory.”
Mensik’s first title came at the Masters 1000 level when he upset Novak Djokovic in the 2025 Miami final.
Baez had previously started the season with a perfect 7-0.
At the Adelaide International, Tomas Machac held off Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-2, also securing his second ATP title.
“I kept the focus in the third set and kept the level of my tennis very high in the third set,” the 25-year-old Czech explained. “I started to play a bit more aggressively and served well. I am very happy that after my injuries I can stand at this moment with the trophy and with a great level of tennis.”
Humbert is now 7-4 for life in ATP finals.
Both Machac and Humbert can now look ahead to rough first round matches at the Australian Open against Grigor Dimitrov and Ben Shelton respectively.
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