Referee's lunch break saved Miami Open champion Mensik from early exit

MIAMI GARDENS: Czech teenager Jakub Mensik, who stunned Novak Djokovic in the Miami Open final on Sunday, said had it not been for a referee taking a timely lunch, he would have pulled out of the tournament before his first match.

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Mensik, who won his first ATP tour title with the victory, said he suffered intense pain in his right knee during practice and could barely walk, let alone run.

The 19-year-old said that he had filled out his withdrawal form ahead of his match with Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut and went to the referee's room but the official was out for lunch.

"I was like OK, well let's just visit the physios. I told them, 'my knee is hurting, I filled out the paper and I'm going," Mensik told reporters.

"The physio said let's see and he started to do a couple of treatments, he took care of it for like 30 minutes. He said it is nothing serious and you can play with this pain and nothing will happen," he added.

But Mensik said, while the ref was eating lunch, he returned to the treadmill and was still in agony.

"I was really suffering. I took a different pain-killer, switched it up a bit and started to feel a little relief. It was 30 minutes before the match, I thought 'I can walk, I can run, let's see."