Novak Djokovic is a living example of how care for the body is one of the most important aspects for the longevity of an athlete’s career: the Serbian tennis player is approaching 39 years old, but is still No. 4 in the world and confirms himself to date as the only credible killjoy in the duopoly formed by Sinner and Alcaraz. Djokovic is looking for Slam n° 25 which would make him the most successful tennis player ever in both men’s and women’s, surpassing the record he holds jointly with Margaret Court (the next appointment with history will be at the Australian Open scheduled for January 18th). Over the course of his career Nole has used various “alternative”, anti-conventional methods to derive psycho-physical benefits that many, especially experts in the scientific field, have defined as bizarre to say the least. Let’s review the main ones.
The pressurized egg
The history of Djokovic’s alternative methods begins in 2011 (one of his most successful seasons) with the so-called $75,000 pressurized “egg” from the Californian company CVAC System, which he slipped into to improve post-match recovery. It is a hyperbaric chamber with a vacuum pump to simulate the rarefied air of high altitude and compress the muscles at rhythmic intervals. The company promises that three 20-minute sessions a week can boost athletic performance by improving blood circulation, increasing the number of oxygen-rich red blood cells and reducing lactic acid. Furthermore, it is possible to stimulate mitochondrial biogenesis and the production of stem cells. As revealed at the time by the Wall Street Journal, Djokovic was so convinced by the therapy that he regularly went, before the Slams, to the town of Alpine, New Jersey, to the house of his friend Gordon Uehling, a former professional and now tennis coach, owner of one of these devices. Over time the Serbian abandoned his “egg” also because the sports community had begun to question the “morality” of the method, despite the fact that the World Anti-Doping Agency had not vetoed its use.
The energy tunnels in the “Pyramids of the Sun” and the memory of water
Djokovic’s first public appearance after the first wave of Covid (which later was a matter of great criticism for the Serb due to his anti-vax position) was at the so-called “Pyramids of the Sun”, a pyramid-shaped hill complex in the Visoko area, 30 kilometers north-west of Sarajevo, in Bosnia, in which, according to Nole, there are “energy tunnels with particularly positive properties”. Their “discoverer”, the Bosnian Semir Osmanagic, claims that the two hills are actually the product of an ancient Illyrian civilization. The scientific community has rejected all of Osmanagic’s hypotheses, stating that in reality the formations are of natural origin.
Also during the pandemic period, the Serbian illustrated some theories on personal well-being without scientific basis, in line with the theorist of the “memory of water”, the Japanese essayist Masaru Emoto: “If you have specific thoughts and emotions, in case they are happy thoughts, good thoughts, these create a molecular structure that has a geoprism based on sacred geometry, which means that there is balance. On the contrary, when you give water pain, fear, frustration or anger, that water breaks.”
The anti-distortion magnet
At Roland Garros 2023 Djokovic showed off a small button attached to his side under his shirt which turned out to be a Q Magnet, a mini-magnet made of an alloy of boron, iron and neodymium which, by emanating magnetic fields, would reduce the effects of distortions and strains. The technology in question is called Taopatch Sport by Tao Technologies, a company from Castelfranco Veneto, founded in 2012 by Fabio Fontana. Also in this case, Djoker’s alternative method has divided the scientific community: some experts have expressed skepticism, speaking of “bogus benefits”.
The energetic green disc
We continue with the Australian Open 2025 when Novak showed up in Melbourne with a strange energetic green disc. It is the same Serbian tennis player who talked about its benefits in an interview with GQ: “It creates an electromagnetic field around you. When you apply it on a certain part of your body, such as when you have stomach problems or indigestion problems, this creates heat. So it starts to improve metabolic functions or reduces inflammation in certain parts of the body.” It was thought up and created by a Serbian doctor-engineer: “He created it for me and I take it everywhere.” Boris Becker, former coach of the 24-time Slam champion, didn’t take it well: “Concentrate on the court,” the German legend said in his podcast.
The anti-aging capsule
Finally we come to current events: on the occasion of the Qatar Formula 1 Grand Prix, Djokovic presented a new project: it is Regenesis, an immersive capsule (not so different from the 2011 egg) for the recovery of one’s body, which combines various technologies aimed at promoting well-being and mental reset including light therapy, sound frequencies, electromagnetic fields and aromatherapy. “Regenesis is a modern solution for a busy life: you can recharge your energy in eight minutes,” explained the Serbian. A project that was born in Bali six years ago: it is on this occasion that the tennis player met the Australian Tav Keen, a specialist in the use of technologies that induce deep meditative states, and founded the Regenesis project with him.
To complete this “rejuvenation” mission, aimed at bridging the gap with Alcaraz and Sinner in this last part of his career (which, according to his words, “will continue at least until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics”), the former world No. 1 then decided to expand his team, relying on Dr. Mark Kovacs, a point of reference for elite athletes to optimize performance, as well as being CEO and co-founder of the International Tennis Performance Association, a company that deals with training and certification in the field of tennis fitness. With Kovacs Djokovic will focus in particular on physical preparation, injury prevention, biomechanics, recovery and optimizing performance on the court. We can be certain of one thing: in his endless career, the tennis player from Belgrade has made his body a means to achieve results and records like few athletes have managed in the history of sport. And it’s not over yet…
