After receiving his award and plenty of applause, Mensik headed to the Tennis Channel desk, where he elaborated on his story.
Two days before his first match, Mensik, who had just reached the semifinals in the Cap Cana ATP Challenger Tour event in the Dominican Republic, was dealing with knee inflammation. He couldn’t step on the treadmill to run, and the discomfort persisted all the way to match day.
But instead of letting a lucky loser into the draw, he took to the court and defeated Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
“Somehow I won it, then I had one day off,” recalled Mensik—who then beat Indian Wells champion Jack Draper in the second round.
From there, Mensik ousted Roman Safiullin, got a walkover past compatriot Tomas Machac, and toppled Arthur Fils, Taylor Fritz (7-6, 4-6, 7-6) and, after a lengthy rain delay Sunday, Djokovic.
“It’s crazy story,” said Mensik, who walks away from Miami inside the Top 30 for the first time, along with some crystal hardware—and maybe even that piece of paper.
“Maybe my coach has it somewhere, still.”
