Miami: Jakub Mensik overcame rain and an opponent chasing history when he stunned six-time champion Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 7-6(4) for the Miami Open trophy.
The 19-year-old Czech player stopped Djokovic from claiming the 100th tour-level title of his career to become the second-youngest titlist in tournament history behind Carlos Alcaraz, who lifted the trophy in 2022 as an 18-year-old.
“To be honest I don’t know what to say. It feels incredible, obviously. It was probably the biggest day of my life and I did super, which I’m really glad [about], to show the performance and keep the nerves outside of the court before the match. I feel just super happy and I think that the feelings will come later,” Mensik said in his on-court interview.
“It was not the first time I’ve played against Novak,” said Mensik, who lost his first ATP meeting against his idol Djokovic last year in the Shanghai quarterfinals. “There is no harder task in tennis than to beat him in the finals. But of course I felt really great and it’s my time, so I just tried to focus on the match like I did before in previous rounds.”
Mensik also became the first player from his country to win an ATP Masters 1000 event since Tomas Berdych triumphed in Paris in 2005.
“This is Jakub’s moment — moment of his team, moment of his family. Congratulations, unbelievable tournament. It hurts me to admit it, but you were better! In the clutch moments, you delivered the goods [with] unbelievable serving and just a phenomenal effort mentally as well to stay tough in a difficult moment,” Djokovic said.
In a match, delayed nearly six hours by rain in Florida, Djokovic was struggling with an issue underneath his right eye. The 37-year-old consistently reached towards his eye and used eye drops during changeovers, ATP reports.
Mensik was born in September 2005 when Djokovic was already in the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings. The 18-year difference between them marked the biggest age gap in an ATP Masters 1000 final.
(IANS)
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