Novak Djokovic, the epitome of dominance on court, is no stranger to struggling off the court. It may seem like fitness comes to him naturally as an athlete; after all, his sheer dedication, determination, and discipline brought him 24 major titles. And yet, the Serb struggled with his diet and fitness in the initial stages of his career.

But today, his fitness levels and carefully curated diet have set him apart from the rest. Novak Djokovic’s diet is enriched with vegetables, salad, beans, nuts, seeds, chickpeas, lentils, healthy oil, and occasionally fish to balance his protein intake. Recently, tennis legend Martina Navratilova gave her take on Djokovic’s strict eating habits.

Martina Navratilova a regular vegetarian for seven years, on Novak Djokovic’s faux-vegan diet

Martina Navratilova became a vegetarian during 1991-1998 to improve her performance on court. She recently came to Tennis Channel and highlighted the impact that’s put on the body with a pure vegan diet. And, she’s not surprised seeing Novak Djokovic run out of gas towards the end. She said, “Yeah I mean I’ve gone through some iterations of a similar situation. I was a regular vegetarian for seven years and I had a hard time finding the energy at the end.”

“So, I’m not surprised that he’s eating-uh sometimes fish, uh-things like chicken maybe not, but fish. Just to get the protein. It’s really hard to get enough protein with just a plant-based diet as an athlete. It depends on every day. So you experiment with whatever works for you.”

Of course, whatever Novak Djokovic is doing is going well for him! “He’s got the stamina, he has got the fitness he has not been injured and he has got the energy. So, once you find the magic portion, you stick with it until it doesn’t work. And, then you figure out something else to do.”

Both Martina Navratilova and Novak Djokovic are stalwarts of tennis. Their achievements on the court and dedication to reach their off-the-court are something that aspiring tennis players look up to. And both attribute their output to what they put in their bodies as fuel.

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How Djokovic completely changed his diet to reach where he is today

Novak Djokovic had struggled with various health problems and fitness in the past. But nothing had worked for him until he consulted a Cypriot doctor who later suggested he should try out a food sensitivity test. Later on, Novak Djokovic was found to be having a high sensitivity to milk and wheat products. So, he had to completely eliminate those two things from his diet.

Coming from a family that owned a pizza restaurant and cutting down the wheat consumption from his diet seemed next to possible. But Djokovic knew, that to reach the pinnacle of the sport, he had to make sacrifices. And just after a year, the results were slowly starting to show through his performances. He lost almost 5-6 kg in a year and became fitter than ever before. The rest, as they say, is history.

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