New Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik revealed that he signed papers to withdraw from the tournament, but a referee being on their lunchbreak was the reason why he played on and ended up victorious. The Czech 19-year-old defeated Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 7-6(4) to claim an almighty scalp in Florida.
But Mensik’s tournament could have been over before it even started. Before his opening match against Roberto Bautista Agut, the teenager was suffering from immense pain in his knee and initially wanted to quit the tournament.
However, having been made to wait by an absent match official, Mensik received treatment from an ATP Tour physio who he has credited for the “miracle” work allowing the player to compete.
“Big special thanks to one of the ATP physios, Alejandro,” Mensik said in his winning speech. “One hour before my first match here I was holding the paper to pull out from the tournament because my knee was hurting a lot.
“I was just lucky that the referee was having lunch. Then for the last time I came for the treatment. He did a miracle. Because of him I stepped on the court. Because of him I’m standing here.”
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