“I was not able to sleep for two days,” Mensik said of the build-up to the final. “I was feeling, you know, nerves. I was trying to hold it, of course, but yeah, I mean, with this finals doing for the first time and everything, it’s just very, very tough.”
Sometimes it’s better to be young and blind than older and experienced. This was Djokovic’s 142nd final; it was only Mensik’s second. But it was the Czech who jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and avoided feeling any early doubts. It was Mensik who used his serve to stay level with Djokovic, even after the Serb found his range. And it was Mensik who played better when it mattered most, in the tiebreakers.
If there was a shot that summed up Djokovic’s evening, it came with him serving at 3-4 in the second-set tiebreaker. Mensik had just hit what may have been his worst and most nervous shot of the night, a rushed backhand that landed in the middle of the net, and gave back a mini-break. Was it the lifeline Djokovic needed? On the next point, the two traded groundstrokes; the longer the rally went, the more likely it seemed Djokovic would win it. Instead, when he tried to up the pace on a forehand, he drilled it straight into the net.
