Czech teenager Jakub Mensik beat childhood idol Novak Djokovic to win the Miami Open, having come close to withdrawing with a knee injury hours before his first-round match.
Mensik, 19, went to the referee’s room to announce his withdrawal before his opener against Roberto Bautista Agut on 20 March, but the official was out for lunch.
He then went to the physiotherapist to ask them to fill in paperwork confirming his withdrawal, but was persuaded to stay on.
“I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t run,” he said. “I started to treat it, started to take painkillers. Nothing was helping.
“I was visiting the referee’s office to say ‘guys, I’m pulling out’, but he was having lunch.”
Mensik went to a physiotherapist, who deemed the injury not to be serious and began treatment to enable him to compete.
“After a few minutes I started to feel a little relief,” said Mensik, who has risen to a career-high 24th in the world rankings.
“I took different painkillers, which helped a little bit. I was like, ‘OK, let’s try it. It’s like 30 minutes before the match. I can walk. I can run. Let’s see’.
“Somehow I won the first round and then I had one day off, which of course, for my knee was much better. Day by day the knee was getting better and with that also my game.”
Mensik dropped just two sets on his run to the final, which included victories over British number one Jack Draper and fourth seed Taylor Fritz.
He clinched a first ATP Tour title with a 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) win over Serbia’s Djokovic on a sticky, humid night in Florida.
Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, had been bidding to become just the third man in the Open era to win 100 singles titles.
However, the 37-year-old’s wait will go on after his loss to Mensik, who was just 10 months old when Djokovic won his first title in 2006.
