Nineteen-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik pulled off a surprising upset on Sunday, defeating his childhood idol Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 7-6(4) to assert his first ATP title on the Miami Open.
In simply his second ATP last, Mensik, ranked 54th, relied on his highly effective serve, delivering 14 aces to outlast the 24-time main champion. He sealed the win with an unreturnable serve, collapsing in emotion as he secured the victory.
At 37, Djokovic, the oldest participant to achieve a Masters 1000 last, had hoped to turn out to be simply the third man within the Open Era with 100 or extra titles, becoming a member of Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103), however in the end fell brief.
“When I was young, I started to play tennis because of you,” Mensik mentioned to his opponent on the trophy ceremony. “There is no harder task for a tennis player than to beat you in the finals of a tournament.”
Djokovic arrived on the courtroom after a number of hours of rain delays with swelling close to his proper eye and appeared off-kilter as he handed Mensik a break with a slipshod shot out of bounds within the second sport.
He slipped and fell within the fifth sport, taking his time to get again up off the courtroom as his legions of devoted followers in Hard Rock Stadium urged him on.
He additionally utilized eye drops to his troubled eye through the changeover.
The Serb leveled it within the seventh however boiled over with frustration as Mensik received off to a 5-0 head begin within the tiebreak, fuming at his field, the place his former rival-turned-coach Andy Murray sat stone-faced.
Mensik held his nerve, in the meantime, and pumped his fist with satisfaction as he clinched the set with an overhead smash.
Second set
The two gamers battled toe-to-toe in an exciting second set, the place Mensik used his velocity to his benefit to neutralize Djokovic’s effective drop pictures on the internet.
Djokovic displayed his veteran survival instincts as he fended off two break factors within the fifth sport however regularly confirmed the damage and tear of the match earlier than collapsing from exhaustion after a 21-shot rally within the tiebreak.
“It hurts me to admit it, but you were better,” mentioned Djokovic, who had beforehand invited Mensik to coach with him after the then-16-year-old reached the Australian Open juniors last in 2022. “In the clutch moments, you delivered the goods.”
The win capped a dream run via the event for Mensik, who upset third seed Taylor Fritz en path to the ultimate.
“To be honest, I don’t know what to say. It feels incredible, obviously,” he mentioned in on-court remarks.
The victory was made even sweeter as Mensik revealed he almost dropped out of the event an hour earlier than his first match on account of knee ache, giving full credit score to his physio for retaining his hopes alive.
“I came for treatment, needed a miracle,” Mensik mentioned. “And because of him, I stepped on the court, and because of him, I’m standing here.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com