Against his hero Djokovic, teenager Mensik proves his mettle with Miami Open final win

Never meet your heroes, they say. Jakub Mensik went out for a battle with his and came out a winner, in an ATP Masters final no less.

- Rutvick Mehta

MUMBAI: Falling on his back after two tense tiebreaks, he walked up with hands folded and embraced his defeated but gracious hero who had crossed over the net smiling.

The 19-year-old Czech wasn't just living a dream, he was doing so in front of the man responsible for shaping it. "Because of him, basically, I started to play tennis," Mensik said.

Novak Djokovic doesn't like to lose, not least in a big tournament final while bidding for a landmark 100th tour title. And so, when the 37-year-old says this teen is "one of the very few players that I would be happier to lose to", you get a sense of the impression Mensik has made on him.

The rising 6'4" frame also made quite an impression at the Miami Masters, stunning his tennis idol 7-6(4), 7-6(4) in the final to capture his first ATP crown.

That Mensik would open his title count with a Masters trophy shows how special the last couple of weeks were in a tournament he would've pulled out of had the referee not been away for lunch (an hour before his opening round, a knee inflammation was attended to by an ATP physio). That Mensik is the second-youngest Miami champion after Carlos Alcaraz also shows how strong this youngster's presence could be on the tour in the years to come.