The 19-year-old teenager from the Czech Republic wins his first tournament by beating Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) in the Miami final.
Novak Djokovic has missed out on his 100th title on the tennis tour. The 37-year-old Serb lost 6-7 (4-7), 6-7 (4-7) to Czech teenager Jakub Mensik in the Miami final, which was postponed for several hours due to rain, and must continue to wait for his next milestone.
Instead, Mensik clinched his first title ever, crowning a strong showing in Florida. “To be honest, I don’t even know what to say. It obviously feels great,” he said. “It hurts me to admit it, but you were better. You delivered in the decisive moments,” Djokovic conceded.
The favorite Serb, who is just one victory away from joining Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) as the third player in Open Era history to reach 100 career titles, will have to be patient. He could launch his next assault at the Monte Carlo Masters (April 6-13).
The long-time world number one, who has not won a title since taking gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was much more stable in Miami overall. Before the tournament, Djokovic had lost three matches in a row – the last time he experienced such a negative streak was in 2018. In the final, he clearly had problems with his right eye.
He did not want to accept this as an excuse, however. “I really prefer not to talk about it – there are some things, but I prefer not to… I just congratulate him. That’s it. I don’t want to give the impression that I’m apologizing for my defeat,” said Djokovic.
Nineteen-year-old Mensik had reached his first final at one of the nine Masters tournaments; it was only his second final on the tour. He had previously beaten the world number four, Taylor Fritz (USA), and Jack Draper (Great Britain/no. 7), among others. He moves up to 24th place in the world rankings.
Alexander Zverev (Hamburg) was the top-seeded player in Miami but was knocked out in the round of 16.
