Novak Djokovic Refuses To Blame Miami Final Loss On Injury And Conditions
NewsMonday, 31 March 2025 at 12:11
Novak Djokovic didn't want to blame any circumstances for his loss at the 2025 Miami Open, giving all the credit to his opponent.
Djokovic lost the Miami Open final to Jakub Mensik. It was a painful loss for the Serbian player, as it was a defeat in two tie-breaks. The 37-year-old also missed out on a chance to win his 100th career title and break Roger Federer's record for the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion.
Before the match, Djokovic appeared on the court with an eye injury, which might have been a massive setback for the 99-time ATP titlist. On top of that, the conditions in Miami were very challenging after players had to wait for over five hours to get to the court after a long rainy day.
Following his loss, the 24-time Grand Slam champion was asked multiple questions. One of those was about the conditions in Miami, as he seemingly struggled with humidity during the final match.
Djokovic changed his t-shirt during the final, which is why he was asked about the conditions. But the Serbian player didn't want to take anything away from his opponent, saying the conditions were the same for both players.
"I really prefer not to talk about -- there is quite a few things, but I prefer not to... just congratulate him. That's it. I don't want to sound like I'm giving excuses here for my loss."
Speaking further about his opponent, Djokovic was happy that it was Mensik who beat him. He practiced with the teenager when he was even younger, so it was nice for the Serbian to see the youngster's development.
"Congratulations to Mensik and his team. 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. 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 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 one of the top players of the world. I'm super glad that he's using the potential that he has, because he's got the complete game."
During the press conference, Djokovic was also asked about his eye injury. However, the six-time Miami Open champion once again reiterated that he didn't want to find any excuses for his loss.
"As I answered before, I don't want to get into details, but just it is what it is. You know, it's same for both players. You have to accept the circumstances. I tried to make the most out of what I had or what I was facing, but it was quite different from any other day of the tournament for me."
Djokovic, like the rest of the Tour, will now move to the clay courts. He is scheduled to begin his clay-court part of the season at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
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