Serve To Win: Novak Djokovic’s life story with diet, exercise and motivational tips

by Novak Đoković

How much discipline? In January 2012, I beat Nadal in the finals of the Australian Open. The match lasted five hours and fifty-three minutes—the longest match in Australian Open history, and the longest Grand Slam singles final in the Open Era. Many commentators have called that match the single greatest tennis match of all time. After I won, I sat in the locker room in Melbourne. I wanted one thing: to taste chocolate. I hadn’t tasted it since the summer of 2010. Miljan brought me a candy bar. I broke off one square—one tiny square—and popped it into my mouth, let it melt on my tongue. That was all I would allow myself. That is what it has taken to get to number one.

I avoid all insulin spikers, and that means not just wheat but also sugars and sugary products such as chocolate and soft drinks. As a result, I have a very simple diet: vegetables, beans, white meat, fish, and fruit. Most of the food is natural and hasn’t been processed. You’ll find that once you eliminate wheat, and the sugar spikes that come from it, resisting other sugary foods will become much easier.

Everything in life is about balance and moderation: in food, in exercise, in work, in love, in sex, in everything. (Okay, maybe a little less moderation in sex, but you get my meaning.)

Digestion begins in the mouth.

Eating slowly has helped me learn exactly how much I need to eat.

Teas are wonderful any time of day. I like licorice tea, which gives me that wide-awake feeling without caffeine. It’s also good for circulation. I also like a good ginger lemon tea.

“Who you’re with is who you are.” Think

My recommendation: Do five minutes of light jogging or stationary cycling to ease your body into activity and raise your heart rate. Then go right into these dynamic stretching exercises. Do ten reps of each without resting (as your body becomes conditioned to these moves, you can increase the reps to fifteen or even twenty). It shouldn’t take you more than five minutes to run through them, and once you do, you should be sweating. That’s a good thing—you’re putting the warm in warm-up. Jumping jacks. You probably know how to do them, but if not: Stand with your feet together and your hands at your sides. In one simultaneous movement, raise your arms above your head and jump up enough to spread your feet wide, then quickly reverse the movement and repeat. Walking high knees. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keeping your shoulders back and your back straight, raise your left knee as high as you can and step forward. Repeat with your right leg. Continue to alternate back and forth. Walking high kicks. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keeping your knee straight, kick your right leg up and reach out with your left arm to meet it—as you simultaneously take a step forward. As soon as your right foot touches the floor, repeat the movement with your left leg and right arm. Alternate back and forth. Squat thrusts (a.k.a. burpees). Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms at your sides. Lower your body as deep as you can into a squat. As you squat d...