Beatles, ‘pyramid water’ and a bomb shelter: Three things you didn’t know on how Novak Djokovic became a sports legend
Here are three things we didn’t know about Djokovic that have made him the Grand Slam champion he is today
Novak Djokovic, the man behind the enigma | © Cassel
Ahead of Novak Djokovic playing Carlos Alcaraz in this Sunday’s Wimbledon final, there isn’t much we don’t know about the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
And yet, just as his recovery from knee surgery in a matter of days has proven this month, Djokovic continues to surprise.
With Tennis Majors given a sneak peak at Mark Hodgkinson’s Searching for Novak book ahead of its release on July 4th, here are three things we didn’t know about Djokovic that have made him the Grand Slam champion he is today.
1. The Beatles helped Djokovic with his returning
There are few who would dispute the fact that Djokovic is the best returner that the sport of tennis has seen.
But it hasn’t always been that way for the Serbian. When he was in his formative years as a tennis player, Djokovic’s then-coach, Bogdan Obradovic, took a guitar on court one day.
He began playing Beatles songs, plus a song from the Yugoslavian rock band Electro Orgasm called ‘Everyone in Yugoslavia is Playing Rock ‘n’ Roll’ to demonstrate a point: that returning serve and listening to music is one and the same.
It’s all about feeling the rhythm.
“Listen, Novak, you have to follow the rhythm of the song. And then you’ll feel the rhythm in your return, in your movement, in everything. It’s like a song. It’s all connected,” explained Obradovic.
As Obradovic continued to explain, Djokovic needed to become attuned to the rhythm of his opponent’s service motion. The way he moved his body and racquet towards the ball, his toss, how struck the ball.
“You will have that rhythm of reading and reacting,” he declared.
Years later, these words couldn’t be truer.
2. The Belgrade bomb shelter that shaped a Grand Slam champion
After defeating Lorenzo Musetti in three sets in the Wimbledon semi-finals on Friday, Djokovic touched on some of what he had been through to get here in his on-court interview:
“I’ve said it many times, Wimbledon has always been a childhood dream for me, to play and to win it. I’ve said this story many times, but I think it’s worth repeating,” he began.
“I was a seven-year-old boy in Serbia, watching the bombs fly over my head and dreaming of being in the most important court in the world, which is here, the Centre Court of Wimbledon.
“Constructing a Wimbledon trophy out of any material that I had available, watching myself in the mirror and telling myself I’ll be Wimbledon champion one day.”
The bunker that Djokovic spent so much time in, huddled together with his family as NATO planes dropped bombs overhead, still exists in Belgrade. Hodgkinson visited it, and gives a stark description of the scene:
“Low concrete ceilings. Concrete walls, blotted with damp, that seem as though they’re crowding in on you. Concrete floors. The air – and there isn’t too much of that down here – even smell faintly of concrete.
“It’s not just the concrete, all cold, rough and unforgiving, that unsettles you. It’s imagining how Djokovic and others would have felt inside this bunker; there’s a sense that this is somehow still a place of fear and confusion and gathering rage.”
Djokovic shares that bunker has shaped him to be who he is today, saying that he “won’t forget the intensity of the emotions” or how he felt when he was inside.
3. Djokovic drinks something called ‘pyramid water’
Every few years, a scandal erupts as Djokovic’s team is seen preparing some potion and handing it to him in the middle of a match. Cameras are shielded and the seemingly clandestine concoction often leads to a remarkable turnaround in the Serb’s performance.
While it’s more than likely his team is simply preparing some electrolytes for him, what if Djokovic really does have a superpower than he ingests before matches?
Introducing: pyramid water.
In ‘Searching for Novak’, Hodgkinson explains how Djokovic has a bizarre connection with a certain type of water only found under the pyramids of Bosnia:
“Djokovic goes deep underground – beneath ancient Bosnian pyramids or what some regard as a giant, pointy hoax – to drink this healing pyramid water.
“This water is said to have been exposed to the mystical energy of those supposedly ancient pyramids, and to vibrate at a different frequency to other waters. Pyramid water is apparently about so much more than the physical benefits.
“Ordinary water that you might get from a tap or a bottle merely quenches thirst; pyramid water is going to restore Djokovic in just about every way.”
While he appreciates that there are some “doubts” about the authenticity of this pyramid water, Djokovic swears by it and often fills up a car-load of water bottles every time he visits.
Whether these all will help Djokovic get past Alcaraz, the man who got between him and a calendar slam last year, is another question.
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Mark Hodgkinson’s Searching for Novak is available online now, and at bookstores near you
