ATP
Teen Mensik denies Djokovic his title century
Czech Jakub Mensik crashed the Miami Masters party for Novak Djokovic as the teenager kept the veteran Serb from a potential 100th ATP title with a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) upset title win.
The final was delayed nearly six hours by rain, with an afternoon start turning into a nighttime session. Mensik went on to claim the first Tour trophy of his career.
Djokovic, 37, won his last title at the Paris Olympic last summer and had looked in position to join the 100 club along with Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors.
But Mensik had other ideas, with the Czech posting the surprise result after two hours, falling to the court in pure relief on his back after claiming the biggest win of his young career.
“It’s just a mess in my head,” the 19-year-old said. “I don’t know what to say – this is incredible.”This is probably the biggest day of my life. I’m super-happy, I’m sure the feeling will come later.”
The surprise winner who knocked out last year’s US Open finalist Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals, said he lept his nerves in check on his way to the win.
“This was not the first time I’ve played Novak. But there is no harder task in tennis than to beat him in a final
“I feel this is my time, so I tried to focus on the match. I was really feeling the ball.”
The win produced the second-youngest Miami titleholder after Carlos Alcaraz, winner here in 2022 at age 18. His title was the fist for the Czech republic at the Masters level since Tomas Berdych won Paris Bercy two decades ago;
Djokovic was having problems with his right eye, taking drops for the problem as he struggled with his game.
Mensik took a 5-0 lead in the first-set tiebreaker, claiming the opener on his third opportunity – an overhead winner – against the six-time Miami champion.
The pair played level-pegging in the second set, which also went into a breaker. Mensik secured his triumph on a second match point after facing just one break point throughout.
The 18-year age gap between the winner and finalist was the largest ever at a Masters 1000 final.Teen Mensik denies Djokovic his title century.
Main photo:- Jakub Mensik celebrates winning Miami Masters – by ATPTour.com
23 Time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams claims she would have received a 20 year ban if she had failed a drugs test similar to that which ATP World No. 1 Jannik Sinner received just a three month suspension in February 2025.
“I love the guy, love this game,” Williams, told Time magazine after being named one of its 100 most influential people.
“He’s great for the sport. I’ve been put down so much, I don’t want to bring anyone down. Men’s tennis needs him.
“(But) if I did that, I would have gotten 20 years. Let’s be honest. I would have gotten grand slams taken away from me.”
43 year old Williams retired in 2022 and joked that she took extra precautions to avoid any accidental ingestion of an illegal substance, and that a PED scandal would have landed her “in jail.”
“I miss it a lot, with all my heart. I miss it because I’m healthy,” Williams said. “If I couldn’t walk, or if I was so out of it, I wouldn’t miss it as much.”
Sinner’s suspension ends on May 4, having twice tested positive for the banned substance clostebol in March 2024 and is expected to make his return to the tour at the Italian Open, in the ATP 1000 clay-court tournament in Rome beginning on May 5.
The Italian has always maintained his innocence, claiming the drug entered his system through a massage from his trainer.
Stefanos Tsitsipas scratched and clawed his way past Sebastian Korda 7-6 (4), 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP Barcelona Open for a fifth straight year on Wednesday.
But the Greek, a four-time finalist at the Real Club, was far from pleased with what he considered a sloppy showing.
“This is not a performance I;d be proud of. The only good thing was my fighting.
“My tennis was really not showing but I was still able to fight and that gave me the win at the end.”
The two-time Grand Slam finalist whose ranking has dropped to 16 after he failed to defend his Monte Carlo title last week, advanced into a last-eight match with Frenchman Arthur Fils, who has won both of their previous encounters.
Tsitsipas advanced with 15 winners and twice as many unforced errors on the Rafael Nadal court in the Catalan capital.
“It was not great in terms of level, II was surprised not to be even close in the return games.
“I did hold serve quite OK. It’s too early to say anything about my clay game. But winning definitely helps [psychologically.
“The more I can fight through matches like this; I need confidence to progress and get better over the next few weeks (leading to Roland Garros in a month).”
Alexander Zverev edged closer to a trophy hat-trick at the home ATP event in Munich on Wednesday , with the top seed crushing compatriot Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-2.
Zverev, who lost in the first round last week in Monte Carlo, claimed Munich titles in 2017 and 2018
The seed ranked third in the world needed less than 90 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals on the Bavarian clay,
Zverev finished off victory in his fourth match point, sending over a drop shot which Altmaier could not control.
Zverev advanced with 14 winners and 22 unforced errors, with Altmaier contributing 24 mistakes.
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