Mensik wins first Grand Slam mixed doubles title, faces Tien in US Open third round
Czech player Jakub Mensik and Karolina Muchova won their first Grand Slam title in the US Open mixed doubles, and now Mensik faces a tight third-round singles battle against American Learner Tien.
A surprise mixed doubles title
Jakub Mensik and Karolina Muchova claimed their first Grand Slam title at the US Open in New York, winning the mixed doubles event they entered on a wild card. The pair earned a USD 1 million prize for the win, according to Radio Prague International. In the final, Mensik and Muchova beat fourth-seeded Flavio Cobolli and Belinda Bencic 6-3, 1-6, 10-6 in a match tiebreak. In the semifinal against Andrey Rublev and Mirra Andreeva, the Czech duo had to save two match points before winning the deciding tiebreak. The event used a shortened format, with sets played to four games and a match tiebreak replacing the third set. Mensik and Muchova became the latest Czech players to win a Grand Slam mixed doubles title, following Katerina Siniakova (Wimbledon) and Andrea Sestini Hlavackova (US Open 2013).
Third round against Tien
Sources differ on Mensik's age: PrizePicks and DraftKings describe him as 21, while Radio Prague International notes he turns 21 only next week — meaning he was still 20 during the mixed doubles run.
On Saturday, September 5, in a night session at Louis Armstrong Stadium, Mensik (seeded 17th, described elsewhere as ranked 18th) meets American Learner Tien (seeded 14th, ranked 15th). The match is scheduled for around 8:10 p.m. ET, broadcast on ESPN2. It is only the pair's second meeting and their first on the main tour — their only prior clash came at the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals, which Tien won in a five-set thriller, 4-3(6), 4-3(3), 2-4, 2-4, 4-3(8).
This year Mensik reached the semifinals at the French Open, the quarterfinals in Montreal and the round of 16 in Cincinnati, and has dropped just one set at this US Open. Tien was an Australian Open quarterfinalist, reached the semifinals in Canada, and has not dropped a set in New York, cruising past Nuno Borges (6-4, 6-1, 6-2) and home favorite Gael Monfils (6-3, 6-4, 6-3).
Tien is considered the slight favorite, per PrizePicks payouts (2.04x for Mensik, 1.72x for Tien), DraftKings odds (-125 for Tien) and Tennis Abstract's Elo ratings, which give Tien a 53.1% chance. The Grandstand predicts a Tien win in five sets. The winner will face either Karen Khachanov or Benjamin Bonzi in the round of 16.
Context
This year's US Open has already produced upsets, including Novak Djokovic's five-set first-round loss to Mariano Navone. Several American men — Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton and Alex Michelsen — have already reached the round of 16, and a win would let Tien join them.
