The fifth-ranked Djokovic struggled to find his rhythm in a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Chilean Alejandro Tabilo in the second round, making an inauspicious start to his clay season.
Djokovic said that Mensik would only get better after becoming the second youngest Miami champion since Carlos Alcaraz, who won the trophy in 2022 as an 18-year-old.
Argentina great Lionel Messi and his family watched tennis legend Novak Djokovic dominate Grigor Dimitrov in the Miami Open semifinal yesterday.
According to Novak Djokovic, he is playing his best tennis in a “long time”, and the Serb got rated as 8 out of 10 by one of the sons of Lionel Messi -- another athlete who has been nearly perfect his entire career.
A victory at Miami would be a landmark 100th singles title for the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
A tennis union co-founded by Novak Djokovic on Tuesday announced a series of legal actions aimed at the sport's governing bodies, alleging "anticompetitive restraints and abusive practices".
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic crashed out in his Indian Wells ATP Masters opener on Saturday, just the latest proof that "things are different" now for the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner, who retired from his last four match at Melbourne Park in January due to the injury and lost his opener at the Qatar Open last month, also said he was reaping the rewards of his work with coach Andy Murray.
World number one Sinner agreed to a three-month ban on Saturday, admitting "partial responsibility" for mistakes by his team which led to him twice testing positive for traces of clostebol in March last year.
The former world number one responded on Saturday, posting a photo of an MRI taken of his left hamstring on the social media platform X with the caption: "Thought I'd leave this here for all the sports injury 'experts' out there."
Djokovic enlisted five-time Melbourne Park finalist Murray to help his quest for a 25th Grand Slam title.
Djokovic's long wait for a record 25th major title will go on, a year after he exited Melbourne Park with a semi-final loss to Sinner.
The irrepressible 37-year-old put to bed any doubts about his ability to add to his 24 Grand Slam titles with a scintillating four-set takedown of Carlos Alcaraz in the Melbourne last eight on Tuesday.
The 10-time Melbourne Park winner Djokovic outlasted the younger Spaniard 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to set up a semi-final with Alexander Zverev.
Ageless Novak Djokovic won an epic generational clash against Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday to stay on track for an 11th Australian Open title with Alexander Zverev next in the semifinals.
Djokovic, speaking at a news conference in Melbourne where he is taking part in the Australian Open, said that he cannot "pretend that nothing is happening".
"Couple days ago the famous sports journalist who works for official broadcaster Channel Nine here in Australia made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me," he said, not naming him but appearing to reference Tony Jones.
The 37-year-old Serb, who is gunning for a record 25th Grand Slam title and 11th Melbourne crown, beat 24th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) on Rod Laver Arena.
A fired-up Novak Djokovic powered into the last 16 of the Australian Open on Friday in an ominous reminder of why he is a 10-time Melbourne champion, but he needed a medical break and used an inhaler.
