Djokovic says losing to protege Mensik makes Miami defeat easier to take

MIAMI – Novak Djokovic refused to discuss the evident eye problem he suffered before his Miami Open final loss to unseeded Czech teenager Jakub Mensik, saying he did not want to take anything away from his opponent’s triumph.

After a nearly six-hour rain delay on March 30, the Serb appeared with what looked like a stye, causing swelling around his right eye. He made a slow start to the match, which ended 7-6 (7-4),7-6 (7-4),dropping his first service game.

During a changeover in the first set, he applied some eye drops and looked 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 very weird match, weird day with rain delay and all the things that were happening. I didn’t feel my greatest on the court, but it is what it is. Nothing to take away from his victory,” he said.

Asked directly about the eye problem, Djokovic said he was reluctant to discuss the issue because he did not want to appear to be making excuses for his surprise defeat.

“I really prefer not to talk about – there is quite a few things, but I prefer not to... I will just congratulate him. That’s it. I don’t want to sound like I’m giving excuses here for my loss,” he insisted.

The 37-year-old was due to grace the court at 3pm local time, but the match did not begin until 8.45pm. 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 happy to lose, but he’s