Djokovic Bends and Twists, but Doesn’t Break By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY Published: July 2, 2013 WIMBLEDON, England — The subject of the interview at Wimbledon was flexibility, and Novak Djokovic was asked if he knew about Gumby. “Gumby?” Djokovic said. Gumby, his interviewer explained, was a television character made of green clay that later inspired a toy that could be bent into all sorts of improbable positions. “Oh yes, yes, I know,” Djokovic said, laughing. “I am not this Gumby.” Those in the tennis world would beg to differ. There are many qualities that have allowed Djokovic, a 26-year-old Serb, to rise to No. 1 in an ultracompetitive era and remain there. He has quickness; power; tactical acumen; excellent technique and, in recent years, considerably improved endurance. But if he has a defining quality, it is elasticity: his ability to stretch into splits or near-splits while extending himself into the corners to track down the opposition’s best efforts and send them back with point-winning pace of his own. “Unbelievable,” said Jim Courier, the United States Davis Cup captain and former world No. 1. “I’ve never seen a male tennis player like that. He is like Gumby.” Kim Clijsters, a retired female star well known for her sliding “straddle” split into wide forehands, was asked if she had ever seen a more supple men’s player. “No, not that I can remember,” Clijsters said. Djokovic’s flexibility was a significant factor in a perilous first week on the fresh grass of Wimbledon as it allowed him to rise up — Transformer-style — from an awkward Centre Court tumble in the first round against Florian Mayer that might have had less pliant men howling for a trainer. It remains a factor in the second week with him set to play in his 17th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal; this one is Wednesday against Tomas Berdych, whose easy, thunderous power will push Djokovic into corner after corner and contortion after contortion. “I take pride in that, yes, absolutely,” Djokovic said. “I take pride in those moments on the court, and I know that it’s a result of the hard work I put into everyday life.” When asked about Djokovic, fitness coaches say it is clear that Djokovic, whose father, Srdjan, was a competitive ski racer, is naturally flexible. “Genetics are a talent, and the way he is with his flexibility, it wouldn’t matter how much you or I stretched, we wouldn’t be able to get to that level,” said Brett Stephens, an Australian who once trained the former No. 1 Pete Sampras. But dig deeper with Djokovic and his team, an increasingly closed shop, and it is clear that his flexibility is anything but a coincidence. He paid unusual attention to it from a very young age because of the influence of his first coach, Jelena Gencic, who died last month during the French Open. Gencic worked with Djokovic from the time he was 6 until he was in his early teens, before he left Serbia to board at Niki Pilic’s tennis academy in Munich. In an interview in Belgrade in 2010, Gencic said she took great care not to overburden Djokovic. “You know Novak was not too strong a boy,” Gencic said. “You know how he is now elastic and flexible. Do you know why? It’s because I didn’t want to work too hard with him.” Gencic held up her racket. “This,” she said, “is the heaviest thing he had to handle. We only worked on his legs, his quickness, only fitness on the court, not in the weight room. We stretched and did special movements for tennis, to be flexible, to be agile and to be fast and with the legs. And now he’s excellent, excellent, excellent.” Djokovic said Gencic’s approach was always long-term. “Jelena was one of the people that had a huge impact and huge influence on that part of let’s say my profession, being flexible and taking care of my elasticity of the muscles,” he said Saturday. “Because she taught me and convinced me that if I stayed flexible, not only will I be able to move well around the court and be able to recover well after the matches, but also I’ll be able to have a long career.” Djokovic said that when he moved to Germany, he made a point of doing extra stretching outside the academy’s fitness program. “Because I knew she was talking something that had sense,” he said of Gencic. “And I believed everything she said, and in the end now, I really understand what she meant.” His opponents are paying the price. “I can’t say anybody moves like him or has that flexibility on the stretch that he does,” said Bobby Reynolds, the 30-year-old American qualifier who lost to Djokovic in straight sets in the second round. Djokovic says he has a photograph at home from the 2012 Australian Open where he is hitting a backhand return, his limber left trailing leg kicking high above his head. “It’s actually one of the most amazing photos I have of myself,” he said. Djokovic’s wizardry in extension — particularly with his open-stance, two-handed backhand — applies a different sort of point-in-point-out pressure from other defensive masters of the modern game like Rafael Nadal. “Nadal is way back, so the court feels a little bit bigger, obviously,” Reynolds said. “But when Djokovic is on the baseline, and he’s moving, and he can stretch the court like that, it just shrinks the court down. You feel the window is so much smaller to hit through. That flexibility is something I’ve never seen. He’s doing splits.” According to Todd Martin, a former American star who helped coach Djokovic earlier in his career, Djokovic starts most days with a split, executed with the help of his longtime physiotherapist Miljan Amanovic. “Novak wakes up, and it’s like before he has his orange juice in the morning, he puts his leg on top of Miljan’s shoulder and they basically hug,” Martin said. “He stretches the hamstring before he does anything, and I’m telling you, he does it dead cold.” Martin was one of several who also cited the veterans Max Mirnyi and Michael Russell, both 35, as players with phenomenal flexibility. Their longevity is perhaps no coincidence. “I’ve never withdrawn from a match; never missed a scheduled practice,” Mirnyi said. Djokovic, despite breathing problems linked to allergies, has not yet had a major injury and has not missed a Grand Slam tournament since he played his first in 2005, competing in 35 straight. Gebhard Phil-Gritsch, Djokovic’s fitness trainer since 2009, said Djokovic’s elasticity was a mix of good genes and hard work. “You can see his commitment to every detail; to stretching,” Phil-Gritsch said. “It’s boring stuff to do it every day, day after day.” What is striking about Djokovic, however, is that he does not limit such work to warm-up and cool-down sessions. “When he’s waiting for a car, when he’s doing anything around the grounds, it seems like he’s always stretching something,” Courier said. “He’s doing his arms or his trainer has his hands behind his back, and he’s pulling. Or they’re just doing some neck.” Djokovic said his weight ranges from 172 to 176 pounds, which is about nine pounds less than he routinely weighed in 2010, when he adopted a gluten-free diet. The lost weight has also helped his mobility. He said he was well aware that he stretched more than most of his competitors. “Maybe it’s not necessary in a way in the opinion of some people, but I know everything I do has a purpose,” he said. “With my physiotherapist and my fitness coach, we all have this agreement, let’s say, and the rhythm we’ve come to expect over the years that has brought us so much success. And so we don’t want to change that because we know it’s something that makes me feel good. And I know if I need to spend two hours a day stretching, I’ll spend that time, because I know that’s going to make me feel good.” Meanwhile, the opposition will keep searching for ways to describe the pain of facing Djokovic. “It’s like playing Stretch Armstrong out there,” Reynolds said, shaking his head. “His arms just get longer and longer.”
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 03:29:15 +0000
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