Nineteen-year-old Czech Jakub Menšík beat his childhood idol Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 7-6(4) in an upset for the ages, claiming his first ATP title on the Miami Open as he denied the previous primary in his bid for a milestone a centesimal.
The 54th-ranked Menšík confronted powerful odds in solely his second ATP remaining however harnessed his finest weapon to subdue the 24-time main winner with 14 aces and collapsed onto the court docket, overcome with emotion, after sealing it with an unreturnable serve.
The oldest ever to succeed in a Masters 1000 remaining, 37-year-old Djokovic had hoped to affix Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) as the one three males within the Open Period with 100 or extra titles however ran out of steam in the long run.
“After I was younger I began to play tennis due to you,” Menšík stated to his opponent on the trophy ceremony. “There is no such thing as a more durable job for a tennis participant than to beat you within the finals of a match.”
Djokovic arrived on the court docket after a number of hours of rain delays with swelling close to his proper eye and appeared off-kilter as he handed Menšík a break with a careless shot out of bounds within the second sport.
He slipped and fell within the fifth sport, taking his time to get again up off the court docket as his legions of devoted followers in Onerous Rock Stadium urged him on, and utilized eye drops to his bothered eye through the changeover.
The Serb levelled it within the seventh however boiled over with frustration as Menšík bought off to a 5-0 head begin within the tiebreak, fuming at his field, the place his former rival-turned-coach Andy Murray sat stone-faced.
The Czech held his nerve, in the meantime, and pumped his fist with satisfaction as he clinched the set with an overhead smash.
The 2 gamers battled toe-to-toe in an exciting second set, the place Menšík used his velocity to his benefit to neutralise Djokovic’s high-quality drop pictures on the web.
Djokovic had his veteran survival instincts on show as he fended off two break factors within the fifth sport however steadily confirmed the wear-and-tear of the match earlier than collapsing from exhaustion after a 21-shot rally within the tiebreak.
“It hurts me to confess it however you have been higher,” stated Djokovic, who had beforehand invited Menšík to coach with him after the then-16-year-old reached the Australian Open juniors remaining in 2022. “Within the clutch moments, you delivered the products.”
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The win capped a dream run by means of the match for Menšík, who upset third seed Taylor Fritz en path to the ultimate.
“To be trustworthy, I don’t know what to say. It feels unbelievable, clearly,” he stated.
The victory was made all of the extra candy as Menšík stated he practically dropped out of the match an hour earlier than his first match as a result of knee ache and gave his physio full credit score for conserving his hopes alive.
“I got here for therapy, wanted a miracle,” stated Menšík. “And due to him I stepped on the court docket and due to him I’m standing right here.”
