Miami Gardens (United States) (AFP) – Novak Djokovic refused to discuss the evident eye problem he suffered before Sunday’s Miami Open final defeat to unseeded Czech teenager Jakub Mensik, saying he did not want to take away from his opponent’s triumph. After a nearly six-hour rain delay, Djokovic appeared with what looked to be a stye causing swelling around his right eye. He made a slow start to the match, dropping his first service game. During a changeover in the first set, he applied some eye drops and appeared to be troubled by the infection.
The record 24-time Grand Slam winner, who was denied his 100th career title, said it was all part of a “weird” day. “It’s unfortunate for me. Two tiebreaks, just a very weird match, weird day with rain delay and all the things that were happening. Honestly, I didn’t feel my greatest on the court, but it is what it is. Nothing to take away from his victory,” he said.
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Asked directly about the eye problem, the Serb said he was reluctant to discuss the issue because he did not want to appear to be making excuses for his surprise loss. “I really prefer not to talk about — there are 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,” he said.
The 37-year-old was due to take the court at 3 pm local, but the match did not begin until 8:45. The long day of hanging around for the men’s finalists included time for the women’s doubles final to be completed. Despite his obvious disappointment, Djokovic said he was pleased to see Mensik continue to progress.
“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,” he said. “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,” he said. “I could see back then already, three, four years ago that he’s going to be one of the top players in the world. I’m super glad that he’s using the potential that he has because he’s got the complete game.”
“Obviously his serve is incredible, powerful, precise, wins a lot of free points with the first serve,” he added. “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.
Djokovic, who enjoyed huge support from the crowd who had waited so long for the final, had been in excellent form, not giving up a set throughout the tournament, and he said despite the loss, it had been a positive fortnight in South Florida. “Overall, obviously now a bitter taste because of the loss, but Miami, as I said on the court, really brought me a lot of joy and really good sensations on and off the court. I was welcomed very nicely by people and supported. Incredible again tonight, great support from the stadium in the match. They were pushing me on and trying to give me strength for a comeback.”
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