During a quiet period in the relentless tennis calendar three years ago, the 16-year-old Jakub Mensik received an unexpected proposal. The Czech, who had just reached the boys’ singles final at the Australian Open, was invited by Novak Djokovic, his idol, to train together at the Serb’s academy in Belgrade. The pair quickly established a rapport, with Djokovic offering advice and counsel. For Mensik, this was a pivotal moment in his journey.
That journey completed a full circle on Sunday at the Miami Open as the pair stood across the net from each other again, this time as rivals in the biggest match of the 19-year-old’s career so far, and he closed out a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) victory to win his first ATP title in one of the top tournaments in the game.
It was an immense performance from the teenager, who continued to dominate behind his enormous, precise first serve and he played fearless attacking tennis throughout, particularly in the two decisive tie-breaks. His breakthrough run included beating three top-eight players – Jack Draper (No 7), Taylor Fritz (No 4) and Djokovic (No 5). There is no doubt that he has marked himself as a future grand-slam contender.
For his 37-year-old one-time mentor across the net, however, this result is far more difficult to parse. Firstly, it is impossible to ignore the sorry physical state Djokovic was in hours before the match, which was significantly delayed due to rain. He emerged for his warm-up sporting a dramatically swollen right eye and he repeatedly attempted to treat the apparent infection with eye drops.
Although the treatment appeared to help somewhat, it was not entirely surprising that Djokovic seemed off early in the match, dropping his opening service game and trailing by a break for much of the opening set. Afterwards, he sportingly opted out of discussing his physical issues and only he knows how much it affected him. As he settled into the match, Djokovic did produce a positive level in a quality match from all involved. Against an opponent who could do no wrong, however, he was uncharacteristically meek when the match was on the line in both tie-breaks.
While that timidity under pressure is uncharacteristic in the context of Djokovic’s career, over the past year he has become more familiar with those sensations. His triumph at the Olympic Games, where he willed himself to win the one title that had evaded him, remains the anomalous result in his past 16 months on tour. It is his only title since the ATP Finals in 2023, which had closed off one of the most dominant years of his career. His milestone 100th title continues to evade him.
As evidenced by his solid run through the tournament, which he navigated without dropping a set until the final, the winner of 24 singles grand slam titles is still capable of playing quality tennis but the standards he has set are so high that it is increasingly difficult to maintain them. Meanwhile, a talented young player like Mensik, who has not been scarred by Djokovic’s greatness like the previous generation, absolutely should relish the challenge of facing him.
Thirty-seven is an interesting age in recent tennis history. This is the point by which many legends have begun to slow down. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal won their final grand slam tournaments at 36. Serena Williams, meanwhile, won her last major aged 35, although her difficulties were far greater after giving birth to her daughter, Olympia. In addition to their obvious physical deterioration, the older a player gets, the more challenging it is to hold their nerve and summon their best tennis in the decisive moments, to play with the total freedom of old under pressure while conscious that the end is not far away.
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It remains to be seen just how long the remaining path is for Djokovic and he leaves Miami with mixed emotions after making progress in some areas while other concerns remain. The positive news is that the coming tournaments should really offer him more opportunities to return to winning ways. In recent weeks, the ATP has been in total disarray and the draws are unusually open.
So many of the top players – Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz and Andrey Rublev – have been struggling for various reasons. Even though Jannik Sinner has only competed at the Australian Open this year and is in the middle of a three-month ban, he maintains a comfortable lead in the ATP race.
The next significant tournament arrives quickly, with the Monte Carlo Masters marking the start of the red-clay season on Sunday. For Djokovic, there will be more obstacles ahead, but as he tries to hold his own at the top of the sport for as long as he can, this is also a challenge he should relish.