Known for turning defense into offense, Novak Djokovic has probably the best on-court movement on the tour. He often reaches the ball when it seems impossible to retrieve it, by sliding on the court like a jet-ski. Djokovic’s unbelievable 180-degree leg stretch to return shots from difficult positions is a thing of real beauty.

Training for Spider-Man sliding: Novak Djokovic

Recently, the 17-time Grand Slam champion uploaded a picture on Twitter of himself indulging in a pilates session alongside a bunch of people. Interestingly, Djokovic revealed that he was training to rebuild his Spider-Man like sliding skills, and it seems the pilates session is the secret behind it.

“Training for Spider-Man sliding #preseason,” Djokovic captioned the post.  However, one of his fans made an amusing reply on the Twitter thread by posting a picture of Djokovic sliding on the court. 

Captioning the reply, “Let’s slide a bit more, Novak”, the user made a joke at Djokovic. The Serbian’s on-court sliding skills make it incredibly tough for his opponents to score winners against Djokovic.

In the ongoing off-season, Djokovic is preparing hard for the 2021 Australian Open, a tournament he has won a record eight times. With the strict two-week quarantine in Melbourne, Djokovic will have to maintain his fitness levels during that period.

This year, Djokovic overcame the wrath of Dominic Thiem in the Australian Open final and clinched an epic five-set victory. Having ended the year as the No.1  ranked for the sixth time in his career, Djokovic equaled Pete Sampras’ record. He moved past his prime two adversaries, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who have finished as the year-end No. 1 fives times each in their careers.