Novak Djokovic gestured to the mind, heart, and body connection after winning the Australian Open and his 22nd Grand Slam singles title! This was a telling insight on how he overcame a leg injury prior to the tournament, competed match by match all the way to the title, and healed his body along the way too. Tennis wise he is getting better each year and has developed a complete game leaving very little if anything for opponents to work with and try to break down. His intellect, spiritual side and awareness that comes through in his interviews too I’ve found to be very intriguing and insightful particularly in how he brings all these aspects together to face situations, overcome challenges, and to bring out the best in his tennis.
To me he’s gone much deeper and farther than the physical realm of the tennis arena to discover and learn about himself and to gain insights and strengths that he can amalgamate into his tennis game to reach higher levels as a competitor and tennis player. In one of his interviews, I recollect hearing him share about his fascination for wolves and how he goes into the hills to observe and learn from them. In another interview he shares about how he is trying to understand his body better. His knowledge of nutrition and understanding the optimal diet for his tennis is well known and an area that his coach, Goran Ivanisevic touched upon in the post-match press conference. I believe he also has a spiritual mentor on his team.
When Tsitstipas mentioned in the award ceremony about how Novak is pushing all the players that much harder and to their max, I think he’s alluding to this aspect of everyone else having to go that much farther, to dig that much deeper in their training, learning and preparation to try to stay competitive with Novak. Putting in tons of hard work on the court is not enough; one has to go deep into fitness, diet, mental strength, lifestyle etc. etc. to have a level of parity in your preparation, game and competitive abilities with Novak.
There is much to learn from the best players and these insights can be applied to any stage of training. For example, this evening with our junior players we discussed these topics and also asked them to share about one area that they can dedicate some time and effort to expand their knowledge and skills to improve as competitors and tennis players.