Jakub Mensik made quite a revelation following his impressive Miami Masters final win over Novak Djokovic as the Czech dealt with a knee issue just before the start of the tournament and was ready to withdraw from the event before changing his mind at the last moment and deciding to at least give a shot to playing.
On Sunday, the 19-year-old upset the six-time Miami champion 7-6 (4) 7-6 (4) to win lift his maiden Masters title but also his first trophy on the main level. For the Czech – who ranked at No. 54 when Miami started – it was yet another big win clinched in South Beach since he also beat Indian Wells Masters winner Jack Draper and world No. 4 Taylor Fritz en route to winning the title.
And after enjoying a dream run in the second tournament of the Sunshine Double, Mensik gave a special shout-out to ATP Tour physio named Alejandro.
Mensik: I had the papers filed and ready to pull out but then Alejandro came to the scene
“One hour before my first match here, I was holding the paper of pulling out from the tournament, because my knee was hurting a lot. I was just lucky that the referee was having lunch… He (Alejandro) did a miracle. Because of him I step on the court, and because of him I’m standing here,” the Miami champ said.
As Mensik was making these comments, the physio in question was in the stands and smiled.
“Somehow I won it (first-round match against Roberto Bautista Agut), then I had one day off. It’s crazy story… Maybe my coach has it (the paper) somewhere, still,” the new world No. 24 said.
Before winning the Miami Masters, Mensik had five Futures titles and one Challenger title in his collection. Safe to say that the 19-year-old Czech won his first ATP title in quite some style.
Now, there will be more attention on Mensik and it will be interesting to see how he does on clay.
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