Jakub Mensik, Miami champion, was going to pull out of the tournament an hour before his first match

"I have to tell you one story," Jakub Mensik said into the microphone on the Miami Open's stadium court, after he had just defeated Novak Djokovic in two tiebreakers to win his first-ever ATP title.

The story was not about his journey from youngster to champion, even though the 19-year-old is still quite young. It was not about his idol, who was standing next to him and had just lauded him with praise. The story was not about perseverance, even though we'd seen that quality play out over the last two weeks in Miami.

Rather, it was about Mensik about throwing in the towel before his most memorable tournament as a professional tennis player began.

"One hour before my first match here, I was holding the paper of pulling out from the tournament," said Mensik, "because my knee was hurting a lot. I was just lucky that the referee was having lunch."

Yes: because the tournament referee was grabbing a bite, Mensik remained in the draw. He received additional treatment from Alejandro, an ATP physio, and never ended up handing in that withdrawal slip.

Two weeks later, Mensik was handed the winner's trophy by tournament director James Blake.

"He did a miracle," Mensik said about Alejandro's treatment, as the tour physio proudly smiled in the crowd. "Because of him I step on the court, and because of him I'm standing here."

After receiving his award and plenty of applause, Mensik headed to the Tennis Channel desk, where he elaborated on his story.

Two days before his first match, Mensik, who had just reached the semifinals in the Cap Cana ATP Challenger Tour event in the Dominican Republic, was dealing with knee inflammation. He couldn't step on the treadmill to run, and the discomfort persisted all the way to match day.

But instead of letting a lucky loser into the draw, he took to the court and defeated Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

"Somehow I won it, then I had one day off," recalled Mensik—who then beat Indian Wells champion Jack Draper in the second round.

From there, Mensik ousted Roman Safiullin, got a walkover past compatriot Tomas Machac, and toppled Arthur Fils, Taylor Fritz (7-6, 4-6, 7-6) and, after a lengthy rain delay Sunday, Djokovic.

"It's crazy story," said Mensik, who walks away from Miami inside the Top 30 for the first time, along with some crystal hardware—and maybe even that piece of paper.

"Maybe my coach has it somewhere, still."