Novak Djokovic suffered a stinging loss Sunday evening in the Miami Open presented by Itau final to Jakub Mensik. It was a big opportunity for the Serbian to claim the 100th tour-level title of his career and record seventh trophy in Miami against a 19-year-old playing for his first ATP Tour title.
Entering the match, Djokovic had only lost four times to teen opponents. But despite the disappointment, the 37-year-old was graceful in defeat, shining the spotlight on Mensik.
“Congratulations to Mensik and his team. 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,” Djokovic said. “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.”
Djokovic saw Mensik lose a three-set thriller in the 2022 Australian Open boys’ singles final to Bruno Kuzuhara. The Serbian was impressed by the teen’s fighting spirit and big game, and through his management reached out to Mensik’s team to arrange for the Czech to train with him.
“I could see back then already — three, four years ago — that he’s going to be one of the top players of the world,” Djokovic said. “I’m super glad that he’s using the potential that he has, because he’s got the complete game. Obviously his serve is incredible, powerful, precise, wins a lot of free points with the first serve.
“Backhand, as well. Czech school, they always have a great backhand. But forehand, he’s improved a lot. And movement for a tall, big guy like that, he slides and moves well. He still can improve, of course. So I’m sure we’ll be seeing him around.”