Novak Djokovic says Jakub Mensik is one of the few players he is ‘happier to lose to’ after falling short in his quest to claim a 100th ATP title at the Miami Masters.
The 37-year-old was bidding to become only the third man to win a 100th title after Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors. However, he was denied the milestone by Mensik who prevailed in two closely contested sets. Djokovic is yet to win a trophy in 2025 and hasn’t won a tournament since the Paris Olympics last summer.
Whilst losing is a bitter pill for Djokovic to swallow, he is taking some comfort it is to a protege of his. When Mensik was a teenager, the Serbian noticed that he had good potential and invited him to a training block in Belgrade.
“He was training at my club in Belgrade and to see his development and evolution is really great, amazing,” Djokovic told reporters.
“I could see back then, three, four years ago, that he’s going to be one of the top players in the world. 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 and wins a lot of free points with the first serve. Backhand, as well.
“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.”
Mensik says Djokovic was the player who inspired him to take up tennis. He was born just over two weeks after the former world No.1 made his Masters 1000 debut in 2005.
Miami was the second time the duo have faced each other on the Tour. Their first meeting was last year at the Shanghai Masters which Djokovic won in three sets. Asked about which aspects of Mensik’s game stood out in their latest meeting, the 24-time Grand Slam champion spoke about one specific thing.
“The serve consistency,” he said.
“I think he was serving even better than he was serving in Shanghai, and there he was serving really well. I think the game was similar, but my level was not like it was in Shanghai.”
As for the reason why his level was not the same in Miami, Djokovic refused to go into details. Ahead of the final, he looked to be suffering from an eye issue. Potentially a stye causing swelling around his right eye. After the first set he used some eye drops but still appeared to be bothered by the issue.
“I really prefer not to talk about — there is quite a few things, but I prefer not to… just congratulate him. That’s it. I don’t want to sound like I’m giving excuses here for my loss,” he replied when asked about the issue.
Miami is the second consecutive ATP final Djokovic has lost after Shanghai last October. It is the first time he has lost back-to-back ATP Finals since 2018.
