Novak Djokovic
Tennis player · Record 24 Grand Slam singles titles
Serbian tennis player, 24 Grand Slam singles titles, Olympic gold in Paris. Most of what he says about his body dates to 2010, the year his gluten intolerance was found. Dairy and refined sugar followed it out, and Serve to Win came from the change. He is unusually open about the rest: prayer and gratitude at the moment of waking, meditation, conscious breathing on court, yoga, and a nightly sleep target he ranks above every other recovery routine.
- Entries
- 29
- Does
- 23
- Recommends
- 2
- Discusses
- 4
Gear
5 pieces of gear in this stack
- GearDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Asics Court FF
Tennis.com says he keeps competing in the Court FF NOVAK, and that at the 2024 Australian Open the shoes carried 24 on the heel for his major titles. In a 2022 Forbes interview the piece quotes, he compared switching from his previous shoe sponsor to Asics with moving from a commercial car to a sports car, citing flexibility, quicker direction changes and better sliding.
Source: Tennis.com: Novak Djokovic steps out in 24 shoes as he makes winning Australian Open startVisit asics.com (opens in a new tab)On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it - GearDoes it$$$Expensive: Several hundred dollars and up.
CVAC pod
In 2011, the summer he reached number one, he named the CVAC pod at a sponsor event as part of what he was doing. ABC News carries his comments: the value he saw was in recovery after a hard set rather than in the muscles, and he likened the machine to a spaceship.
Source: ABC News: Tennis Pro Novak Djokovic's Pressurized 'Space Egg'View item: CVAC podOn record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it - GearDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Head Speed racquet
Tennis.com reports he has been a Head ambassador since 2008 and worked with the company on the Speed line across that time. In May 2024 Head gave him an exclusive all-black Speed Legend, set to be his frame until the end of his career. Head's performance racquet manager Max Bauer said the design pulls together features Djokovic likes.
Source: Tennis.com: All-black everything: Novak Djokovic to play in exclusive Legend racquet for rest of his careerVisit head.com (opens in a new tab)On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it - GearDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Incrediwear recovery sleeves
He tore a meniscus at Roland Garros in 2024 and had surgery, then wore a gray and white Incrediwear sleeve on his right knee, on and off court, through Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics, Tennis.com reports. He took a significant stake in the company in August 2025 and launched arm, knee and leg sleeves under his own name, so this is now his own branded product.
Source: Tennis.com: Novak Djokovic backs wearable recovery tech with new Incrediwear collaborationVisit incrediwear.com (opens in a new tab)On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it - GearDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Taopatch
Photographed in 2023 with a small metal disc taped to his chest, he said it was a Taopatch from Tao Technologies, and Tennis365 reports his claim that the patch is the biggest secret of his career. The same piece quotes a pseudoscience debunker calling the mechanism unbelievable and a neurologist calling the device unproven, and says the supporting studies are small and paid for by the firm.
Source: Tennis365: Novak Djokovic's Tao Patch, secret weapon or rabbit's foot?Visit taopatch.com (opens in a new tab)On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it
Supplements
2 supplements in this stack
- SupplementDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Electrolyte supplementation
Follows the lemon water with what he calls his hydration formula, to put back electrolytes and minerals before he goes out to train.
Source: Khel Now: Novak Djokovic reveals his morning routine, shares mantra for fitnessView item: Electrolyte supplementationOn record from 12 of 62 tracked people: 12 do it - SupplementDiscusses$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Protein powder
A protein drink goes down immediately after that gym hour to aid recovery, according to the same summary of the book.
Source: EssentiallySports: All You Need To Know About Novak Djokovic's Training RoutineView item: Protein powderOn record from 18 of 62 tracked people: 13 do it, 3 recommend it, 2 have discussed it
Books
1 book in this stack
- BookRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Serve to Win
His own 2013 book, built around the fourteen-day gluten-free plan he credits for the season that took him to world number one, with menus, recipes and the exercises he does before a match.
Source: Penguin Random House: Serve to WinVisit penguinrandomhouse.com (opens in a new tab)On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it
Protocols
15 entriesStructured routines and practices with a defined method.
An ice bath belongs to that same wind-down block, named alongside the sauna and put as a possibility rather than a fixture, after whatever swimming, biking or hiking the day has held.
Source: Plant Based News: Novak Djokovic Opens Up About His Diet And Wellness RoutineOnce the active half of a rest day is done he moves to what he calls the chilling part, which he says possibly means a sauna.
Source: Plant Based News: Novak Djokovic Opens Up About His Diet And Wellness RoutineCalls sleep probably more important than any other recovery routine, and likes at least eight and a half hours, eight or nine by his own account. He describes himself as a deep sleeper who does not wake in the night, and aims to be in deep sleep before 1am, which he says is when the REM stretch that matters most begins.
Source: Tennis365: Novak Djokovic reveals his sleep routineBikes on non-training days, alongside hiking and jogging, out of a habit of staying active all year rather than only in the training block.
Source: Plant Based News: Novak Djokovic Opens Up About His Diet And Wellness RoutineGroups yoga with meditation and says he does both out of a need for peace and calm, and for happiness and joy. He linked leaning on them to a stretch of poor results and, more than that, lost emotional balance on court.
Source: VICE: Novak Djokovic: Meditation, Yoga and Veganism Helped Shape My SuccessCalls conscious breathing the skill an athlete has to master to cope with break points, crowds and the fact that nobody substitutes for you. Asked whether he meditates on court, his answer was that the first rule of meditation is breathing.
Source: WWD: Novak Djokovic on Making Tennis History, Breathing as Meditation, Holistic TrainingNames swimming in the sea first when he lists what he does on days without tennis practice, mainly to stay outdoors and keep the blood moving.
Source: Plant Based News: Novak Djokovic Opens Up About His Diet And Wellness RoutineEats mostly plant-based. In a 2022 interview the outlet quotes, he said eating meat was hard on his digestion and took energy he wanted for focus, recovery and the next match. He has kept his distance from the vegan label itself.
Source: Plant Based News: Novak Djokovic Opens Up About His Diet And Wellness RoutinePractice sets the shape of his morning: once the hydration routine is done he says he has to go and practice tennis, and only on days with no practice or training obligation does he look for other ways to stay active.
Source: Khel Now: Novak Djokovic reveals his morning routine, shares mantra for fitnessSays his gluten intolerance surfaced in 2010, before which he did not know what gluten was, and that dairy and refined sugar went the same way afterwards. He is careful to add that he is not claiming this is the route for everyone, only that it worked for him and left him recovering faster.
Source: VICE: Novak Djokovic: Meditation, Yoga and Veganism Helped Shape My SuccessTold The New York Times he meditates in order to visualize rather than to get away from a problem, and that he strongly believes in it. Psychology Today set that beside a passage from his book on mindful practice changing how he handles a shanked backhand.
Source: Psychology Today: Champion Novak Djokovic Reveals the Power of VisualizationHis book tells readers to take ten to twenty reps of walking high knees, high kicks, squat thrusts, lunges and inchworms, straight through with no rest between them.
Source: EssentiallySports: All You Need To Know About Novak Djokovic's Training RoutineBetween the two hitting sessions sits an hour of weights or resistance bands, taken after lunch. That is the outlet's reading of the training chapters in his book, not his own words.
Source: EssentiallySports: All You Need To Know About Novak Djokovic's Training RoutineThe outlet's account of his book has him running a full stretching routine every time he steps on court, charity exhibitions included, opening with light running or a stationary bike before anything dynamic.
Source: EssentiallySports: All You Need To Know About Novak Djokovic's Training RoutineA masseuse works on him daily, the article says, adding that he knows most readers cannot arrange that and points them at a foam roller instead.
Source: EssentiallySports: All You Need To Know About Novak Djokovic's Training Routine
Habits
6 entriesRecurring behaviors recorded in public statements.
Meditates daily, he told reporters in 2018, and what he loses through it is fear, anxiety and stress. He leaned on the practice through a long spell away from the tour.
Source: Gulf News: Djoko meditates to lose fear and stressTreats that same waking moment as an expression of gratitude for being alive and getting another day. He ties it to the prayer rather than running it as a separate exercise.
Source: Khel Now: Novak Djokovic reveals his morning routine, shares mantra for fitnessOn match days he takes what he hesitates to call naps: ten, fifteen or thirty minutes depending on the wait, treated as a quick reset of energy rather than sleep. Five minutes of breathing exercises sometimes does the same job.
Source: Tennis365: Novak Djokovic reveals his sleep routineDescribes the very moment of waking as a prayer, ahead of anything else in the day.
Source: Khel Now: Novak Djokovic reveals his morning routine, shares mantra for fitnessFatherhood shifted his sense of himself beyond tennis, he says, and leaving the racket to one side at home is where he finds calm and good recovery.
Source: VICE: Novak Djokovic: Meditation, Yoga and Veganism Helped Shape My SuccessLukewarm water with lemon and salt is what he reaches for after waking, before going out to practice. Coffee he skips altogether, and green tea turns up only occasionally.
Source: Khel Now: Novak Djokovic reveals his morning routine, shares mantra for fitness
In their own words
Checked word for word against the linked source
“My gluten intolerance was discovered in 2010. Before that, I didn’t even know what gluten was. I also removed the dairy products and refined sugar from my diet as well, which is maybe even more important than gluten.”
VICE: Novak Djokovic: Meditation, Yoga and Veganism Helped Shape My Success (opens in a new tab) · 15 Jul 2019 “Well, I mean, sleep is extremely important. Probably more important than any other recovery routines that you could do. … Yeah, I like to get at least, you know, eight-and-a-half hours of sleep a night. I’m pretty deep sleeper, so to say.”
Tennis365: Novak Djokovic reveals his sleep routine (opens in a new tab) · 5 Jun 2023 “Sure, the first rule of meditation is breathing, right? But conscious breathing. As an athlete, you have to learn how to breathe, anybody really on this planet, but for an athlete especially.”
WWD: Novak Djokovic on Making Tennis History, Breathing as Meditation, Holistic Training (opens in a new tab) · 23 Aug 2018 On Breathwork
“I lose fear. I lose anxiety. I lose stress. I guess, in the end of the day, that’s what you’re looking for.”
Gulf News: Djoko meditates to lose fear and stress (opens in a new tab) · 5 Nov 2018 “The very moment I wake up is always a prayer. It’s always an expression of gratitude, first of all, to be alive, to have another chance to live that day.”
Khel Now: Novak Djokovic reveals his morning routine, shares mantra for fitness (opens in a new tab) · 20 Jun 2025 On Daily prayer
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