Jakub Mensik’s night at the Vienna Open turned scary in a matter of seconds. The eighth seed took a heavy fall in the middle of a rally in the second set against Adrian Mannarino on Wednesday, hit his head on the court, and was visibly shaken as he tried to continue. He eventually lost 6-4, 7-5 to the French qualifier in one hour and 46 minutes in the second round of the ATP 500 event.

The 38-year-old Frenchman took the first set 6-4, and Mensik was leading 5-4 in the second, with Mannarino serving at 4-5, deuce, when the incident occurred. Mannarino sent a backhand to Mensik’s forehand side, and the Czech chased it down, slipped as he hit the ball, and crashed to the ground. His shot went into the net, giving his opponent the point.

After the fall, a medical timeout was called, and Mensik was checked by the doctor and physio on court before deciding to play on. Mannarino managed to level the game 5-5, and then broke Mensik in the next game and then served out to the victory. 

The 21-year-old did not look the same afterwards. He was affected by the fall and lost his serve right after resuming. For a 21-year-old who had been on the verge of levelling the match, it was a cruel way to end it. He had also hit ten aces to Mannarino’s four, but it was not enough: Mannarino converted three of his eight break points and saved four of the five he faced. The Frenchman could have finished things earlier, having failed to convert three break points at 4-4.

It was a strong performance by Mannarino, continuing his late-season resurgence. The 38-year-old, ranked No. 73 in the world, came through qualifying in Vienna and had already battled past Ignacio Buse in the first round, coming back from 0-6 in the first set to win 0-6, 7-5, 6-4. The win over Mensik, ranked No. 16, was his fourth straight in Vienna and his third quarterfinal of the season. 

It also extended his perfect record against the Czech: Mannarino has now beaten Mensik twice this year, having previously done so at Queen’s Club in June. His next opponent will be either Daniil Medvedev or Cameron Norrie.

The result continues a run of upsets for the veteran. Earlier this month, Mannarino picked up his first top-10 win of the season at the Shanghai Masters, defeating sixth seed Flavio Cobolli in the second round. He followed that with a quarterfinal run at the Almaty Open, which included a three-set win over fourth seed Andrey Rublev.

The Czech has a lot riding on the next few days. The 2025 Miami champion is 15th in the Race to Turin with some 2,500 points, trailing 600 points from the last qualifying place, which is currently occupied by Rafael Jodar with roughly 3,209 points. 

Even a deep run in Paris would leave him needing help from the players ahead. The result also leaves Frances Tiafoe, who lost to Lorenzo Musetti in his opening match in Vienna, still inside the qualifying places, but waiting on the rest of the field.

For Mensik, the immediate concern is health, and it remains to be seen whether he is fully fit after the fall, but there was relief that he was able to get back up and finish the match.