Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic joins GQ to reveal his 10 Essentials. The Serbian tennis player breaks down his daily essentials: from his Head tennis racket (“I string it quite tight compared to most of the other guys”) to his healing disc (“it creates an electromagnetic field around it”). Watch the full episode of GQ Sports’ 10 Essentials, as Novak Djokovic reveals 10 things he can’t live without.
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00:00What's up GQ, I'm Novak Djokovic and these are my essentials. Now sleep.
00:15Very familiar with this, just has evolved like different models and stuff but
00:19Head is my record sponsor and has been my record sponsor for many years. I've played since I was very very young with head record
00:28Different models I played with
00:30Radical when I was probably like 14 15 years old
00:34I played with that radical orange red and then it had the frame silver frame
00:39Andre Agassi used to play with it, which was you know, obviously one of my childhood idols and people I looked up to and
00:45You know, everyone wanted to be like Andre. So I mean this model is called speed. It's actually speed legend
00:51We launched it last year. Most of the top players have been using kind of half natural gut half
00:58Synthetic strings and I actually string it quite tight in kilograms. It's like
01:0528 and a half 27 and a half
01:07So 28 for the mains 27 and a half kilos for the cross as I understand
01:12I am stringing it quite tight comparing to most of the other guys that keep it like in the mid 20s
01:18I like to have more control
01:21I think the tighter you swing the string that the more control you have on your your ball
01:26I mean a bit less spin, but it's a good balance
01:30So we have one of our family
01:33Photos, I think last year a group hug and a group kiss
01:37Can't express the love that I feel towards my wife and my children and you know
01:42They are the most important people in my life winning Wimbledon when I was 7
01:45I had that goal and then obviously when I achieved that and I start to set new goals dream new dreams and and so I've
01:52Been so blessed to along with my wife to experience both of them seeing me live
01:59you know winning pretty much any big trophy in in the sport, but particularly the
02:05Olympics gold medal, which was
02:08Yeah, something extremely special and unique
02:13The gold medal
02:15directly from Paris
02:172024 Olympic Games
02:19It's beautiful, isn't it all the details pieces of Eiffel Tower in there
02:25Really really cool. This is the real thing and I mean
02:30It's heavy
02:32It's heavy on my fifth attempt at the Olympic Games
02:36managed to win gold medal and at age
02:39You know 37 without dropping a set the entire tournament played some of the best tennis I've played in my career
02:46I just felt very ready mentally and emotionally and physically particularly I played Nadal in
02:53The second round and of course, you know Nadal wasn't in his in his recognizable form
02:58but still I I
03:00Played a great tennis all the way through and then beat Alcaraz in the finals in a fantastic match where he played some of his
03:07best tennis and it was a difficult task, but you know, that's that makes this this
03:12Gold medal even sweeter an essential that I keep on traveling with I do keep on carrying it with me for months and months after
03:20Winning it my kids took it right away when I won it and I haven't seen my medal for days
03:28So here is the limited edition
03:31Big Bang Unicorn Novak Djokovic watch
03:34Dear watch to me because been working on it with Hublot team for a couple years
03:40Created from the recycled materials of the head tennis rackets that I've used over 20 of those
03:47recycled
03:48Lacoste match t-shirts think close to 20
03:52Maybe 17 of those have been different colors. The composites of those have been used to create
03:58To create this watch that is very light. I like the velcro
04:01Logo that is has been my logo for the last 15 years
04:06tennis scoring here in the game 15
04:0830 45 colors these buttons that resemble the tennis ball
04:13I'm very thankful to to be able to have my watch for the first time in my life in my career a
04:20Special jacket from Lacoste
04:23Golden signature. I think it resembles the gold medal
04:27It's a tribute to that and actually here is written Sofia capital of Bulgaria
04:32This is the jacket specially worn for that exhibition that I played against
04:37Dimitrov and on the back we have the
04:41silhouette of
04:43the back end
04:45sliding
04:46signature move very
04:48thankful to Lacoste for creating this
04:51jacket and
04:53Pushing this silhouette forward. It's my favorite. I think it has a little bit of a Michael Jordan air Jordan
05:01Dunk type of silhouette effect. It's a very nice one
05:04Partner with Lacoste have a collaboration with them since
05:082017 from my point of view
05:11Brenna Lacoste is one of the legends of our game. Not just tennis
05:16Related legend but also an inventor someone that has just left an incredible
05:22Mark in the tennis world and fashion world and some of the biggest legends of our game have worn a
05:29Crocodile on their chest while winning Grand Slams and making history of tennis with
05:33Lacoste and what they stand for and what I stand for in my life. It's a beautiful beautiful relationship we have I
05:40Brought a couple books that I have with me now
05:43This is one of the most important ones that I carry with me for many many years. I always have it on there
05:48It's an Orthodox
05:50Christian
05:51Prayer book when I wake up or before I go to sleep or during the day
05:56Before a meal and so forth some I know by heart some I have to read
06:00I'm a man of man of faith and I believe in a divine power and divine intervention
06:06So this is extremely important to me and I have witnessed it many times in my life
06:10Whether it's with health or the prayer has incredible power. The second one is
06:16It's translated to Serbian from dr. Gordon Neufeld and dr. Gabor Mate to very dear people to our
06:25Foundation or Joker is foundation. It's a be the support to your children
06:30It's basically a book about parenting and about attachments
06:35emotional relationship emotional challenges that kids go through but also parents with them and I mean, I'm a
06:43parent of a two
06:45Young children 10 and 7 years old. So I struggle on a daily basis, you know with challenges and emotional challenges or any other challenges
06:53Be I guess emotionally balanced myself and
06:57not overreact to what children are saying or doing and I always try to
07:02Keep the right balance and be available to them
07:06All right. So the last one calm breath calm mind. I always talk about the
07:11importance of
07:13Conscious breathing because a lot of people ask me
07:16What is the best way to kind of get into that the zone top athletes get into that zone where they feel like time stops
07:23And there's not one secret. It's quite individual. So you have to understand who you are
07:28your character your surrounding the way you've
07:32You know conduct yourself on a daily basis your healthy or unhealthy habits. So you have to take
07:39Holistically everything into equation to understand, you know
07:42What that what that formula is from, you know, the more you're trained
07:46Breathing conscious breathing the easier will it become for you to to access the certain states that you need at a certain time
07:53so I think this book is brilliant because it gives some really practical examples of those exercises through
08:01Activity or passive or just visualization or through mantras or whatever is suitable for you. That's all
08:08So
08:11I have to have my shoes. These are a six cord FF three knowledge of each
08:18Edition shoes. These are I think the third model from the first court FF. It took us three years
08:24I think to develop the court FF shoes last couple of years
08:28We've been changing just the models one, two three with certain additions because the technical team of a six has been
08:36Terrific they're always looking for ways to help me move better feel better slide better stop better change direction on the court
08:44You know next to racket the tennis shoes are the most important item for a pro tennis player
08:50You can't mess around with that
08:52That affects the balance affects the body affects everything how you move how you accelerate how you stop so it has to be really a perfect
09:00shoe
09:01Tailor-made for you personalize some details here like the front part of the sole like these patterns here
09:08These circles are not there by chance
09:11Particularly when you have to when you change directions and you have to take off
09:15Back to a different side of the court. This helps have a good better grip on the court and accelerate
09:22These are hardcore shoes. And then I have these two symbols here that I've been wearing for many many years
09:28This is the white dove it
09:31symbolizes the freedom and peace and also connection to the greatest mind ever Nikola Tesla, this one is
09:39Reiki symbol called chokurei, which means all the force of universe is here and now
09:48Right, so I have different bracelets that I wear these are an orthodox Christian religion like a prayer beads
09:56With the Virgin Mary here at the center, you know, some of the bracelets that are made from my children
10:01This is has like a Serbian flag colors
10:07Imprinted here, but you know my children particularly my son loves bracelets
10:11So he has different boxes at home last summer. He was doing business on the beach. He was like making and
10:18selling this is also a
10:20prayer bead that I have from a man hotel and
10:24They're global ambassadors, so I got this one as a present and
10:29It's a beautiful one as well
10:30I have a bunch of them and then I just select the ones that I feel at that given moment that I want to wear
10:37And it gives me strength
10:40Kind of hard to explain this one
10:42it's energetic disc creates an electromagnetic field around it and
10:48Kind of secret is in this pattern and
10:51So when you place it on a certain part of your body
10:56Place this part. For example, if you have a stomach issues, which I do have
11:00Often when I'm nervous stressed before the match or indigestion issues, that's great heat. So then it starts
11:07enhancing the metabolic functions or
11:10Reduces inflammation in certain part of the body doctor that I know in Serbia who is also an engineer
11:17He created this disc for me and I have a bunch of those and I do carry it everywhere when I fly in the plane
11:25Put it on head somewhere. It shouldn't be having it on the on the body parts for too long. So like
11:3220 to 30 minutes. It does its work
11:36Supplement brand that I started with my business partner and longtime friend Mark Stiletano
11:44nutrition has been
11:46an integral
11:48Part of my career of my life has been a passion of mine. For example, this
11:53Product here is a magnesium. It's
11:57we're very proud of it because it's one of the
12:01the best and most complete formulas for magnesium has
12:05five different magnesium's in there and
12:08It's amazing particularly before bedtime to help you with your sleep management
12:14With deeper sleep, which is something that I think we are all looking for. This is one of the three flavors we have
12:20This is lemon
12:21I can proudly say one of the most complete hydration formulas out there for people to perform their best
12:28And I say purposely people not athletes only it's amazing for athletes, but it's amazing for anybody. I
12:37Have two necklaces that I wear with me all the time. I mean one is
12:42You know the cross connection to the art of Christianity very important to me and I play with it
12:50Bothering a little bit, but it's very very dear to me. I'll take it off because I want to show you what's inside
12:55this kind of resembles the the tennis ball and also planet has a kind of a
13:01Symbolic connection to my traveling and of course my my sport, but once you open it
13:06The
13:09Pictures of my family you have in my wife
13:13son, my daughter and our doggies
13:16Extremely important necklace to me. I
13:19Opened this necklace up every day and I kiss
13:22Every member of my family and kind of I know that I they always with me even if we are not physically together
13:28So yeah, I wear this old time. I do tend to
13:33Forget it somewhere in some bag particularly this one when I am traveling but then somehow I always find it there's some
13:40strong connection there
13:43Thank you guys very much for having me on GQ 10 essentials. It was a pleasure and hope to see you soon