The youngster’s dream run in Florida was almost over before it began.
Mensik drops injury bombshell after Miami Open breakthrough
Teen tennis star Jakub Mensik dropped an injury bombshell in the aftermath of his breakthrough title at the Miami Open on Sunday, revealing that he tried to withdraw from the ATP Masters 1000 event just hours before his first match.
Mensik, who defied tennis betting odds to beat Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 7-6(4) in the final and deny the Serbian his 100th singles title, shared in his post-match press conference that he was struggling with a knee injury pre-tournament.
The ailment had not come right by the time he was set to face Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday, March 20, so the 19-year-old sought out the tournament referee for a withdrawal from the event.
However, the referee was out to lunch, and during that time a physio encouraged him to push through the pain.
“Two days before the first match, I started to feel my knee,” Mensik said.
“It was just a big inflammation, which was really big that I couldn’t walk even.
“Nothing was helping. During the match day it was the same, like, it was day before.
“I tried to step on the treadmill. I couldn’t move. I was, like, ‘Okay, well, that’s it. I’m pulling out.’
“I was visiting the referees office to say, ‘Guys, I’m pulling out.’ But he was having lunch.
“So [I thought], ‘Okay, let’s visit the physios first.’ He started to do a couple of treatments, take care of [me] for 30 minutes.
“He was saying [to] me, ‘It’s nothing serious. You can play with this pain and nothing can happen.’
“[I] took different painkillers which helped a little bit. After, you know, few minutes I was starting to feel little relief.
“I was like, ‘Okay, let’s try it. It’s like 30 minutes before the match. I can walk. I can run. Let’s see.’
“Somehow I won the first round, and basically then I had one day off, which of course for my knee was much more better.
“Day by day the knee was getting better and with that also my game. Crazy, huh?”
Before the tournament, tennis betting sites had Mensik priced at well over +10000 to win the 2025 Miami Open.
The Czech served brilliantly, however, powering his way past two top-10 opponents to make the final.
There, he was a +300 underdog at Nags.bet but proved rock-solid under pressure as he served out back-to-back tiebreakers to become the first teen in two decades to beat Djokovic in a final.
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