Jakub Menšík continued his dream run at the 2026 French Open by triumphing over João Fonseca in their blockbuster quarterfinal showdown. However, it has since come to light that the Czech star’s preparations for the crucial encounter were disrupted by a tense confrontation between his coaching team and the Roland Garros maintenance staff.
Inside the Dispute Between Jakub Menšík’s Camp and the French Open Officials
Menšík was on the practice court earlier on Tuesday, June 2, preparing for his quarterfinal clash when the court maintenance staff began lowering the net and getting the court ready to be covered before an impending rain shower. With the rain yet to arrive, however, the Czech star and his team wanted to continue their practice session.
The situation grew heated as a member of Menšík’s team confronted a maintenance worker and insisted on calling the tournament director to settle the dispute.
“Explain to the guys. Explain to the guys. Hey, I’m going to call the director of the tournament. Absolutely I will. Bulls**t,” he said.
Despite the disruption, the 20-year-old continued practicing with the net lowered. He was later spotted discussing the issue with a tournament official alongside his coach, Tomas Josefus, upon the official’s arrival. The court was eventually covered, with rain soon following.
So looks like there was a bit of drama in Mensik’s practice earlier today… pic.twitter.com/6NFJm2kFyX
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) June 2, 2026
In response to the clip, Australia’s Ellen Perez, who is through to the quarterfinals of the women’s doubles event, further added context about what she described as the “unreasonable” behavior of the maintenance staff.
Perez disclosed that she and her doubles partner, Demi Schuurs, encountered a similar issue when they requested just five more minutes on the practice court before it was swept and watered. However, they had to wait for the maintenance work to finish before they could complete their practice session.
“Yea well that old court maintenance guy is also unreasonable. We had 30mins with no one after us and wanted to do 5 more minutes then he could sweep and water and nope we had to stop so he could sweep and water on the 30mins. Then we went and hit again for 5 mins. Just so dumb,” she commented.
Jakub Menšík ‘Excited’ for Alexander Zverev Challenge in the French Open Semifinals
Following the incident, Menšík secured a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(3) victory over João Fonseca to advance to his first Grand Slam semifinal. The 20-year-old will face a tough test in the last four against No. 2 seed and 2024 Roland Garros finalist Alexander Zverev, who defeated Rafael Jódar 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
Despite the challenge, Menšík expressed excitement about locking horns with Zverev, citing the improvements he had made with every match at the clay-court Major.
“As the tournament is going, I’m playing better and better. Even with the match with Sascha in Madrid, of course, it was a close one. It was best of three. Right now, it’s a different situation, semi-finals. I would say a bigger match, best of five. I’m excited for the challenge,” Menšík said in his post-match press conference.
Jakub Menšík and Alexander Zverev recently locked horns in their first tour-level encounter at the Madrid Open in April, where the world No. 3 claimed a hard-fought 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3 victory to reach the quarterfinals.
