Jakub Mensik’s coach, Tomas Josefus, said his pupil is ready for the semifinal Roland Garros clash against Alexander Zverev. Mensik had beaten Joao Fonseca in straight sets in the quarterfinal clash, but Zverev would enter the semis as a favorite.

It would be the biggest match in Mensik’s young career, and Josefus said the 20-year-old will embrace the top stage on Friday.

“I think Jakub is a player that was born for these types of matches, against big players in big stadiums,” Josefus told ATPTour.com. “He loves big challenges and he has shown many times in the past that he’s able to play very well against these top guys. So I’m hoping for a good quality match and he will be ready against Sascha tomorrow.”

When these two players met earlier in the Madrid Open, Zverev won the round of 16 clash in three sets.

“Jakub played against Sascha in Madrid on the same surface, but also in Madrid the clay is slightly faster and it’s very similar to Roland Garros,” Josefus said of Mensik’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Zverev. “They are very similar conditions. They also played on the centre court, so very similar conditions as here on Chatrier. It’s almost like it’s indoors.

“We definitely have some takeaways from this match and for Jakub, it’s a great experience and I believe that he learned his lesson. He was a break up in the third set and lost the match, so it’s a good lesson for Jakub.”

Jakub’s coach admitted that the strategy against Zverev will be complex and Mensik would look to capitalise on the advantage whenever possible.

“The strategy, especially against these types of players, is complex. Of course, it’s serve, return, serve plus one, return plus one, because 65, 70 per cent of all rallies are short ones,” Josefus explained. “Sascha stays very far back on return, so we have to be ready for a lot of rallies that are five or more shots. But the strategy is complex… Sascha is the World No. 3, so this is not just about secret information, but about many, many things.”

Mensik will take on Zverev on Friday at Court Philippe-Chatrier.