Czech teenager Jakuk Mensik declared: “It is my time” after beating his idol Novak Djokovic to win his maiden ATP Tour title at the Miami Open. And the new world No.24, who nearly pulled out before the tournament with a knee injury, wrote on the TV camera: “#1st of many.” The Serbian superstar had invited Mensik, now 19, to train with him in Belgrade as a junior. But Mensik repaid Djokovic, who turns 38 next month (May), by beating him 7-6 7-6 in the rain-delayed final to deny him his 100th title.
And the emergence of yet another potential young superstar shows how difficult it will be for the 24-time Grand Slam champion to stay at the top of the sport. Mensik said: “I was watching him growing up and because of him I started to play tennis There is no harder task in tennis than to beat him in a final. Of course I feel really great. It is my time. Right now, it’s the biggest win of my career so far, and I’m just super happy with that. But I know that this is not the end, and I know that this is just the beginning for me. I’m still 19 years old, so I have all of my career in front of me.
“Of course it feels really great to have this next to me, but it’s not just about the one title, one tournament I’m hungry for more. I’m going back to work and try to get better and better, because there is still a lot of space for improvement in my game. With my team, I will do my best to lift these trophies more often.”
Mensik, the second youngest winner of the Miami Open after Carlos Alcaraz in 2022, beat Indian Wells winner Jack Draper in the first round in 7-6 7-6. His huge serve saw him go 7-0 in tiebreaks in Florida.
But he gave ATP physio Alejandro Resnicoff shared credit for his triumph after attempting to withdraw before facing the British No.1 because of knee pain.
“I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t run,” he said. “One hour before my first match here I was holding the paper to pull out from the tournament because my knee was hurting a lot. I was just lucky then that the referee was having lunch.
“Then for the last time I came for treatment. He did a miracle. Because of him I stepped on the court. Somehow I won the first round. Because of him I’m standing here.”
Djokovic, who refused to comment on an eye injury, won his only title last August at the Olympics. He has remained on 99 titles since and has yet to win with Andy Murray as his coach.
“Never really happy to lose, but he’s one of the very few players that I would be happier to lose to, to be honest,” said the seven-time Wimbledon winner.
“I have seen him play when he was 15 or 16 and invited him, we had some training blocks together. He was training at my club in Belgrade, and to see his development and evolution is really great, amazing. I could see back then already that three, four years ago that he’s going to be one of the top players of the world.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk