Jakub Mensik finds apt words to describe Novak Djokovic’s longevity
Jakub Mensik won his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title when he beat Novak Djokovic in the final of the 2025 Miami Open and one particular stat left the teenager gob-smacked.
The 19-year-old was playing in his first Masters final while Djokovic was featuring in his 60th title match with the 24-time Grand Slam winner winning 40 trophies.
The Miami Open was also Djokovic’s 133rd ATP 1000 event with his first main draw appearance coming nearly two decades ago at the Cincinnati Open.
That tournament took place from 15 to 22 August 2005 – just over two weeks before Mensik was born as his birthday is on 1 September.
When told about the incredible statistic, Mensik replied: “Oh, my God. It’s crazy. It’s just – I don’t know what to say (smiling). He’s just showing his dominance, like 2004 actually, I think it was, when I was not born.”
When told it was 17 days before he was born, he added: “All right. Oh, wow. You read the Wikipedia before? (Laughter.)
“No, no, no, I think that this, like I’m saying, it’s showing his dominance, like, 20 years ago he was already in the finals, and now 20 years later, he’s still in the finals.
Djokovic trained with Mensik in Belgrade a few years ago and he stated that back then he knew that the Czech was “going to be one of the top players in the world”.
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“So he’s top 5 still. So it’s just crazy and unbelievable what he’s achieving in this sport during long period of the time. Imagine me in 20 years from now, which I will be 39 playing the finals? I hope so, but it’s, yeah, it’s crazy, like, to think about it like this.”
Sunday’s Miami Open title was also Mensik’s maiden ATP Tour singles trophy and after the match he wrote “The first of many” on the camera lens.
And now that he is starting to fulfill his promise, the teenager is “hungry for more”.
“It was just, of course, right now it’s the biggest win of my career so far, and I’m just super happy with that,” he explained.
“But I know that this is not the end, and I know that this is just the beginning for me. I’m still 19 years old, so I have all of my career in front of me. Of course it feels really great to have this next to me, but it’s, you know, it’s not just about the one title, one tournament, but, you know, I’m hungry for more.
“Right now I will celebrate, rest. When I will come back home, I’m going back to work and try to get better and better, because still there is a lot of space for improvement in my game, so I will, me and my team, will do my best to lift these trophies more often.
