“It hurts to give it up, but you were better“: Novak Djokovic surprisingly lost the final at the Tennis Masters in Miami and thus also missed the 100th tournament victory on the ATP tour.
The former world ranking list was defeated by the Czech Jakub Mensik 6: 7 (4: 7), 6: 7 (4: 7). It was the first tournament victory on the ATP tour for the only 19 year old Mensik.
Due to constant rain, the match had started with more than five hours late, the players had only come onto the pitch at 8:37 p.m. After 2:03 hours, Mensik converted the point to victory against his 37 -year -old opponent.
Djokovic: “It hurts me, but you were better”
“You were my idol when I was young”said Mensik at the award ceremony towards Djokovic. “I started playing tennis because of you.” Mensik was less than two years old when Djokovic won the tournament in Miami for the first time in 2007. And Djokovic said: “It hurts me to admit it, but you were better.”
Only two players won at least 100 ATP tournaments
So far, only two players in the history of the ATP tour have won at least 100 tournaments: Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103). Djokovic would also have equated with Andre Agassi with a seventh tournament victory in Miami. Nothing came of it.
The long -time world ranking list, who has been waiting for a title since winning the gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, was much more stable in Miami overall. Before the hard court highlight in Florida’s sun, Djokovic had lost three times in a row. In Melbourne he gave up against Alexander Zverev, in Doha and Indian Wells it was not enough in his opening match. He had never experienced such a series since 2018.
Djokovic and a not very serious request
Boris Becker already got “Bellyache”because his former protégé gave him the impression “That he is already starting to enjoy life after career”. This was not true for the appearances in Miami, the way to the final was almost smooth and without loss of sets.
In the final against Mensik, Djokovic obviously made problems with the right eye. As an excuse, he wanted this after a competitive match, in which almost 90 percent humidity caused a slippery surface but did not accept.
“It is unhappy for me. Two tie -breaks, just a very strange match, a strange day with the rain delay and all the things that happened. To be honest, I didn’t feel so good on the square”said Djokovic, who was happy for his admirer, but also gave him a request that was not meant seriously: “Maybe you will let me win at one of the next games, because you still have a lot of time in your career, not so much.”