MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The start of the Miami Open men’s final between Novak Djokovic and unseeded 19-year-old Jakub Mensuk on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium was delayed 5 1/2 hours from its 3 p.m. start time.
The players didn’t take the court until 8:37 p.m. due to rain and organizers deciding on completing the women’s doubles final.
The South Florida rain began at 12:50 p.m. during the women’s doubles final pitting Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider against Cristina Bucsa and Miyu Kato, with Andreeva and Shnaider leading 3-0 in the first set.
The women’s players returned to the court at 5:30 p.m. after the rain stopped and the courts were readied by court-drying machinery. But rain began minutes later before warmups and the umbrella-toting players left the court again.
The women returned to the court an hour later and resumed play at 6:50 p.m. Andreeva and Schnaider went the distance, prevailing in a third-set match tiebreaker 6-3, 6-7 (5), 10-2.
About three-quarters of the fans were still in the stadium. Players were told that the doubles championship ceremony would be abbreviated.
Seeded fourth, the 37-year-old Djokovic was seeking his seventh Miami Open title – which would tie him for the record with Andre Agassi.
Djokovic is also attempting to win his 100th career pro title, which would rank third after Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103).
Mensuk, of the Czech Republic, is playing his first ATP 1000 final. He was not quite 2 years old when Djokovic won his first Miami Open title in 2007. Djokovic also won Miami in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 – all coming at the old venue in Key Biscayne.
The age gap of 18 years and 102 days will be the largest in the history of ATP 1000-level final.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Marc Berman, The Associated Press
