He was born in 2005, the year when Novak Đoković Having made his Grand Slam debut at the age of one and a half, the Serbian tennis player won his first ATP 1.000 title in Miami, and 18 years later, against that player - who has since become a legend - he "embrace" the big trophy for the first time. And, in the aforementioned city in Florida.
He is Jakub Menšik, the bomber from Prostjejov, the great hope of Czech tennis and the guy who, with the first title of his career, prevented Djokovic from reaching his much-desired hundredth.
In addition to having a strong serve, Menšik also showed that he is mentally strong - after all, it is rare for Djokovic to lose in a tie-break, and he did so twice against the Czech in the Miami final.
"One of many," Menšík wrote on camera after defeating his idol and mentor for his first major trophy.
And the first one arrived at the age of 20, in a tournament he wasn't even supposed to participate in.
- Before the first match of the tournament, I felt severe pain in my knee, I felt like I couldn't play, and that's why I went to the referee's room to cancel my performance. However, the head referee was at lunch, so I visited the physiotherapist and only expected him to fill out the papers saying I couldn't play - said Menšik, as reported by "The Guardian".
However...
- After the examination, the physiotherapist claimed that I could play, he made me run on the treadmill, but the pain was still severe. However, he insisted that I continue. I listened to him and the pain slowly passed. I said, there are still 30 minutes until the match, let's try.
Everything after that was a fairy tale, perhaps the beginning of this guy's tennis history - besides Djokovic, he defeated two other Top 10 players on his way to the title.
The fact that he enjoys playing against the best is also evidenced by the fact that he has an 8-5 record against tennis players and the aforementioned company.
Although he didn't win his 100th title, Djokovic doesn't hide the fact that he feels at least a little better because he was defeated by a guy he respects a lot, who used to come to his training sessions.
- I'm never happy when I lose, but if I had to lose, I'm happy it was from Menšik. I saw him play when he was 15 or 16 and I invited him. We had a few training sessions together at my place in Belgrade... Seeing his development and evolution is really great, incredible - explained Đoković.
A new star is born - a devastating and precise serve, a great return and a head that is in place promise that the trophy in Miami is truly just one of many in this guy's career.
Bonus video:
