India, March 31 -- Never meet your heroes, they say. Jakub Mensik went out for a battle with his and came out a winner, in an ATP Masters final no less. Falling on his back after two tense tiebreaks, he walked up with hands folded and embraced his defeated but gracious hero who had crossed over the net smiling.

The 19-year-old Czech wasn't just living a dream, he was doing so in front of the man responsible for shaping it. "Because of him, basically, I started to play tennis," Mensik said.

Novak Djokovic doesn't like to lose, not least in a big tournament final while bidding for a landmark 100th tour title. And so, when the 37-year-old says this teen is "one of the very few players that I would be happier to lose to", you get a sense of...