Novak Djokovic reveals why he was strangely "happier" to lose to Jakub Mensik in Miami Open final

Novak Djokovic suffered a 7-6(4), 7-6(4) loss to Czech teenager Jakub Mensik in the 2025 Miami Open men's singles final. In the aftermath of the defeat, the Serb first revealed that he rates Mensik among the players he would be happier to lose to and then went on to explain his take, disclosing things he shares in common with the 19-year-old.

Struggling to perform at his best level amid the intense Miami humidity, a physically-struggling Djokovic had to settle for second-best as Mensik clinched his maiden ATP Tour-level title. Later, during a post-match press conference, the Serb said:

"Never really happy to lose, but he's one of the very few players that I would be happier to lose to, to be honest."

Novak Djokovic went on to lay bare his experience of previously training with Jakub Mensik, before going on to laud the Czech's rapid rise on the ATP Tour.

"I have seen him play when he was 15 or 16 and invited him, we had some training blocks together. He was training at my club in Belgrade, and, you know, to see his development and evolution is really great, amazing. I could see back then already that three, four years ago that he's going to be, you know, one of the top players of the world," Djokovic said.

"Obviously his serve is incredible, powerful, precise, wins a lot of free points with the first serve. Backhand, as well, you know. Czech school, they always have a great backhand (smiling). But forehand, he's improved a lot. And movement for a tall, big guy like that, he slides and moves well. He still can improve, of course. So I'm sure we'll be seeing him around," he added.

The former No. 1 and 24-time Major winner further elaborated on how his team connected with Mensik's team previously to facilitate the pair's collective training sessions. Furthermore, the Serb revealed that Mensik's physio right now used to be his physio at one point of time in the past.

"Seemed like a nice guy, Eastern European. I gave a call through management, my management, his management, and we found, yeah, a connection. He accepted to come. Yeah, so we had, like, three training blocks together. And actually, his physio who is with him now was my physio, Serbian guy. There is a lot of connecting things that we have in common," the ATP No. 5 went on.

During the trophy presentation ceremony, Djokovic told Mensik directly what he thought of the youngster's performance in comparison with his own in the 2025 Miami Open men's singles final.

"In the clutch moments, you delivered the goods" - Novak Djokovic to Jakub Mensik after Czech's Miami Open 2025 title triumph

Novak Djokovic delivers his speech during the 2025 Miami Open men's singles trophy presentation ceremony (Source: Getty)

As he delivered his runner-up speech in the aftermath of his loss to Jakub Mensik, Novak Djokovic told the Czech with brutal honesty what he thought about the match. The Serb suggested that Mensik was the better player on the day before hailing the Czech's serve and general level of play, especially during the pressure moments.

"It hurts me to admit it, but you were better. In the clutch moments, you delivered the goods; unbelievable serving and just a phenomenal effort mentally as well to stay tough in a difficult moment," the former No. 1 told the 19-year-old.

The Serb continues to wait for his 100th ATP Tour-level title. His 99th title triumph came back in the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals. Djokovic is expected to shift his focus now to the European claycourt season, even though he is yet to confirm which tournaments he will play before this year's French Open.

Meanwhile, Mensik's stunning victory in the final in Miami will see him climb to a career-high ranking of World No. 24 on the ATP Tour rankings.