ATP/WTA: Mensik and Sabalenka rule the 305

Mensik proves his metal

It took some effort for Jakub Mensik to win his first ATP title and it came in the form of Masters 1000 glory.

The 19-year-old nearly withdraw from his first round with a knee inflammation. Having blazed into the final – where he duelled with history-chasing Novak Djokovic, who was in touching distance of a milestone 100th career title – Mensik kept his composure despite a six-hour rain delay.

The majority of factors pointed in Djokovic's favour. Mensik had other ideas with a pulsating 7-6(4), 7-6(4) triumph.

Mensik used his opening remarks of the trophy presentation to thank his tennis idol, Djokovic. "Because of you I'm here, I watched you growing up," said the teenager. "I started to play tennis because of you."

Six-time Miami Open champion Djokovic responded graciously. "This is Jakub's moment - Congratulations, unbelievable tournament," said the 37-year-old. "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."

Djokovic's summary was pretty spot on.

In the final, the Czech only surrendered one break point to Djokovic and won 77 per cent of his first serve points, unrelenting with his power play and capabilities to transition up the court.

Mensik's mentality was also a real standout factor in Miami, prevailing in all seven tie-breaks. The 19-year-old eliminated Indian Wells champion Jack Draper at the first hurdle courtesy of two tie-breaks, edged France's showman Arthur Fils 7-6(5), 6-1 and posted a coming of age semi-final 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(4) scoreboard over Taylor Fritz. On top of that came the two tight sets with Djokovic – holding his nerve against his tennis hero.

"It was not the first time I've played against Novak," said Mensik, who lost to Djokovic 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-4 in the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals last season.

"There is no harder task in tennis than to beat him in the finals. But of course, I felt really great and it's my time, so I just tried to focus on the match like I did before in previous rounds."

Mensik's moment has been coming. This time two years ago, the Czech was ranked No.390 and has since tallied plenty of impressive victories along the way. However, nothing comes close to his Miami run, catapulting Mensik up to a career-high No.24 on Monday.

"It feels incredible, obviously," said the first Czech to win a Masters 1000 since Tomas Berdych in Paris in 2005.

"It was probably the biggest day of my life and I did super, which I'm really glad about, to show the performance and keep the nerves outside of the court before the match. I feel just super happy."

Sabalenka with "home" high

Jessica Pegula frequently finds a tongue-in-cheek comment at the perfect time.

On Saturday, having just lost the Miami Open final 7-5, 6-2 to world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, the American took to the microphone: "I really don’t want to like you right now… but you're the best player in the world for a reason. You keep pushing everybody and challenging everybody to get better. Just congrats, an amazing couple of weeks."

Remember Sabalenka was denied an Australian Open three-peat in a heart-breaking final with Madison Keys. Two swift exits in Qatar and Dubai, then, as Pegula eluded to, Sabalenka reached the Indian Wells final earlier this month, but came up just short 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to Mirra Andreeva.

Miami was a different story, Sabalenka reasserted her dominance of the women's game and didn't drop set in doing so.

"Finally, I was able to play my best tennis in the final, and I'm just super happy with the result and with the performance," said the 19-time titlist.

"I didn't want to lose another final, to be honest. It's really tough to lose in the final.

"Going into this match, I had the mentality that no matter what happens, if she's gonna break me, I had the mentality to stay there, to focus on myself, to fight for every point no matter what."

Sabalenka is devastating playing with momentum and she built to a captivating crescendo in Miami. In the closing four matches the 26-year-old defeated defending champion Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-4, then No.9 seed Zheng Qinwen 6-2, 7-5, prior to a commanding 6-2, 6-2 scoreline over Jasmine Paolini. In a rematch of the US Open 2024 final, Sabalenka improved her head-to-head with Pegula to 7-2 to collect an eighth WTA 1000 title.

The performance, the celebrations, it was crystal clear – just like the trophy – for everyone to see this was an extra special silverware success for the world No.1.

"It was very important because last couple of finals I didn’t play my best and didn’t want it to get to my head. I’m super happy that I was able to handle all the emotions and was able to play my best," Sabalenka told the WTA, who owns a property in Miami.

"On the other side, playing at home is great. Having this trophy in the house means a lot and will always bring me great memories."