MELBOURNE - A strict vegetarian diet, spiritual guru and family hugging-sessions aren't methods employed by most athletes, but they have helped Novak Djokovic turn himself into one of the most feared tennis players on the planet - and perhaps the best in history.
Djokovic faced questions over his durability earlier in his career, after a series of retirements for reasons ranging from a toe blister to heat problems at the 2009 Australian Open, when he was defending champion. While Switzerland's Federer and Nadal of Spain come across as straightforward characters, Djokovic is the most complicated member of tennis's Big Three.
"Hopefully I can inspire other athletes that it is possible to be plant-based and to recover well, to have strength, to have muscles," said Djokovic, who has been vegetarian for 41/2 years. Djokovic broke through for his first Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open, but it would be another three years before he took control of the sport, embarking on a 43-match winning streak at the start of 2011.
In the same period, Djokovic became a close follower of Imaz and appeared on stage with the spiritualist in a two-hour video featuring meditation and long discourses about the human soul.
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Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »