Jakub Mensik becomes first teenager ever to beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets in a completed tour-level match

He’s just the 12th Frenchman in the entire Open Era to hit that number, and the third ACTIVE Frenchman after fellow veterans Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils.

ByJohn Berkok

Published Sep 26, 2024

Adrian Mannarino impresses himself with winning backhand drop volley against Ben Shelton | Australian Open

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It’s been a tough year for Adrian Mannarino, but the Frenchman has shown signs of a resurgence over the last few weeks, and in Beijing on Thursday he hit a major milestone, posting the 300th win of his career with an opening victory over Lorenzo Sonego.

And it wasn’t easy—he battled back from a first-set blow-out to overcome the Italian in the Chinese capital, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The 36-year-old lefty is just the 12th Frenchman in the entire Open Era to reach 300 career wins, and the third active Frenchman to do it after fellow veterans Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils.

FRENCHMEN WITH 300+ WINS IN OPEN ERA (tour-level):
605: Richard Gasquet
561: Gael Monfils
504: Gilles Simon
482: Yannick Noah
470: Fabrice Santoro
467: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
389: Cedric Pioline
378: Guy Forget
377: Henri Leconte
341: Sebastien Grosjean
316: Arnaud Clement
300: Adrian Mannarino

Coincidentally, Mannarino could face Monfils in the second round in Beijing—though Monfils would have to get past No. 5-ranked Daniil Medvedev in his first-round match to set that up.

Mannarino reached a career-high ranking of No. 17 after the Australian Open this year.

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After a breakthrough 2023 season that saw him win three ATP titles—one on grass in Newport, then two more on indoor hard courts in Astana and Sofia—Mannarino started his 2024 season strong, too, breaking into the Top 20 for the first time after United Cup and then reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open.

He subsequently rose to a career-high ranking of No. 17.

A few weeks later, though, the difficulties began—between mid-February and mid-September he put together a 3-20 win-loss record, falling back out of the Top 20, Top 30 and even the Top 40.

Last week, though, he reached his first ATP quarterfinal in seven months at the ATP 250 event in Chengdu, also in China, where he fell to eventual finalist Lorenzo Musetti in three sets.

And now, the No. 44-ranked Frenchman makes a winning start to his campaign at the ATP 500 event in Beijing with his victory over No. 50-ranked Sonego to improve to 3-1 over the last two weeks.

He awaits the winner of Medvedev and Monfils.

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