Jakub Mensik hopes his Miami Open success will be the first of many after the teenage Czech completed arguably the hardest task in tennis by defeating the great Novak Djokovic in a big final.
“I’m still 19, so I have all of my career in front of me. It feels great to have this (trophy) next to me, but it’s not just about the one title, one tournament… I’m hungry for more.”
Mensik did not mince his words after he beat his childhood idol in an upset for the ages, claiming his first ATP title as he denied the former No 1 in his bid for a milestone 100th.
He clearly has a taste for success.
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Highlights of Mensik’s victory against Djokovic in the final of the Miami Open
Jakub Mensik, Arthur Fils and Joao Fonseca are part of the Next Gen stars coming through on the professional circuit
Mensik, who beat world No 4 Taylor Fritz in the semi-final and Indian Wells champion Jack Draper in an earlier round, will rise to a career-best No 24 in the latest ATP rankings, two years after he was ranked 390th in the world.
He also became the first Czech player to win an ATP Masters 1000 event since Tomas Berdych prevailed in 2005 in Paris.
Mensik ploughed through the 24-time Grand Slam champion with poise and stellar 130 mph serves, hammering down 14 aces, and was broken only once as Djokovic was denied his 100th career title and a record seventh at the Miami Open.
“Never really happy to lose, but there was he’s one of the very few players that I would be happier to lose to, to be honest. I’ve seen him play when he was 15 or 16 and invited him. We had some training blocks together. He was training at my club in Belgrade, and to see his development and evolution is really great, amazing,” said 37-year-old Djokovic.
“I could see back then already that three, four years ago that he’s going to be one of the top players of the world. So, I’m super glad that he is using the potential that he has because he’s got a complete game.
“He serves incredible, powerful, precise, wins a lot of free points with the first serve. Backhand as well, his forehand has improved a lot and his movement for a tall big guy like that, he slides and moves well. And he still can improve of course, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing him around.”
Former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios took to social media, calling Mensik “special” as the Prostejov native delivered on his potential with his maiden title.
“Mensik is truly something special. Not just to have such composure against the greatest of all time on such a stage, but the fact that he is 19….. this is truly a special kid with plenty of potential to do special things.”
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Mensik revealed he nearly pulled out of the Miami Open due to pain in his knee
Who is Jakub Mensik?
The talented 19-year-old, nicknamed ‘Menimal’, loves spare ribs and towers above his opponents at 6ft 4in. He is fast following in the footsteps of legendary Czechs Petra Kvitova and Tomas Berdych.
At 17, he became the youngest man since Borna Coric in 2014 to win a main-draw match at the US Open and made it through to the third round in 2023, where Fritz ended his tournament.
Mensik even received an unexpected invite to practice with Djokovic after his breakthrough.
“I mean, playing with Novak or being part of his preparation, it was very important for me,” he reflected. “Such a good experience because it pushed me a lot. When you can spend some time with the best player in the world, maybe in history, I don’t even know what to say… I learned a lot of things.”
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Watch how Mensik defeated Andy Murray en route to the Qatar Open final last year
Mensik reached his first tour-level final in 2024 at the Qatar Open where he defeated Andy Murray and top seed Andrey Rublev before losing in the final to Karen Khachanov.
He then upset Grigor Dimitrov en route to the Madrid Masters third round and then made the third round of the US Open for the second year running.
The talented youngster stunned sixth seed Casper Ruud in the second round of the Australian Open but went out in the next round to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
He then suffered a dip in form following his exploits in Melbourne. However, the Miami Open has seen a resurgence in form from the Czech where he showed maturity beyond his years to master an all-time great.
Mensik is part of a generation of young players coming through that includes Brazilian wonderkid Joao Fonseca, American Learner Tien and Frenchman Arthur Fils.
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