By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
After the Alex Eala craze in the women’s division of the Miami Open tennis tournament, another 19-year-old teen wonder cemented his name as the future stalwart in the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles.
Welcome to the big boys’ club, Jakub Mensik.
Tagged as a huge underdog against the 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic, the youngster from Czechia stunned the whole world after sweeping the more experienced netter- 7.6, 7.6- during the grand finals of the Miami Open on March 31, 2025.
The win marked Mensik’s first-ever major tennis title on the ATP tour. He he capped off the prestigious tournament with an insane campaign featuring wins over Djokovic, world no. 3 Taylor Fritz, world no. 6 Jack Draper, and world no. 17 Arthur Fils.
Packed by a ridiculously strong service game and a powerful backhand stroke, the Czech prospect had all the tools against Djokovic entering the championship stage.
However, due to his unseeded ranking as a young ace, the majority expected Djokovic to pull off another one-sided clinic and claim another ATP major title in dominant fashion.
Mensik immediately flipped the script in the opening set after scoring a barrage of winners in the baseline exchanges while keeping his service game on point.
Djokovic kept his ground and withstood Mensik’s power play by holding his service possessions, forcing a thrilling tiebreaker extension.
All Mensik needed was a game-changing service break point to penetrate Djokovic, en route to a convincing first-set finish for an early 1-0 lead.
The second set was a replica of the opener as both stars relied on their service possessions to gain footing, but Mensik took the risk of attacking the net midway through the frame.
By closing in the gap, Mensik was able to catch Djokovic off guard several times and scored crucial points from the net.
Despite Mensik’s added gear, Djokovic refused to back down and gained some momentum after scoring back-to-back down-the-line forehands followed by another service hold.
The stage was set for another heart-thumping tiebreaker, but the 19-year-old uprising star stole the decider after showing off another set of groundstroke winners.
“When I was young, I started playing tennis because of you. There is no harder task for a tennis player than to beat you in the final of a tournament. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done in this sport for everyone,” Mensik said to Djokovic during his post-title interview.
