Novak Djokovic convinced in telepathy and water healing among strangest beliefs
The 2023 Wimbledon Championship will begin in earnest on Monday, with Novak Djokovic looking to extend his Grand Slam record.
The Serbian overtook Rafael Nadal to claim the record for winning the most Grand Slams in the sport's history at the French Open last month. He is aiming to win Wimbledon for the eighth time, having won the last four championships that have been held.
But while he is the dominant player on London's famous grass court, Djokovic also holds some bizarre views. Here, Mirror Sport looks at some of the strangest and most controversial beliefs that the Serbian superstar holds as he bids to win his fifth successive Wimbledon title.
The power of the mind
Djokovic has become a firm believer in telepathy and in the power of cleansing polluted water with the mind. The Serbian is a staunch supporter of the power of the mind and once hired a coach to teach him.
“I feel like [these] are the gifts from this higher order, the source, the god, whatever, that allows us to understand the higher power and higher order in ourselves," he said in 2018.
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"I know some people that through that energetical transformation, through the power of prayer, through the power of gratitude, they managed to turn the most toxic food or maybe most polluted water into the most healing water, because water reacts … molecules in the water react to our emotions, to what is being said."
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Vaccinations
Djokovic was deported from Australia for being unvaccinated back in January 2022 (Getty Images)A controversial belief rather than a strange one, Djokovic has been a vocal opponent of vaccinations against Covid-19. Last year, he was blocked from competing in the Australian Open after being deported for being unvaccinated.
Though scientists have proven the benefits and safety of the vaccine, Djokovic has frequently stated his opposition to the jabs. He remains unvaccinated and was denied a visa to enter the United States in March, but remains opposed to vaccines.
He said in 2020: "Personally I am opposed to vaccination and I wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel. My issue here with vaccines is if someone is forcing me to put something in my body that I don't want."
Self-healing
Djokovic has always been a highly spiritual person and he even incorporates mediation into his daily schedule. His is a firm believer in alternative medicines and has even argued that he can find strength in his own body to fight off injuries.
“The first rule of meditation is breathing, right? But conscious breathing. As an athlete, you have to learn how to breathe, anybody really on this planet, but for an athlete especially," he said in 2018.
"When you get anxious facing break-point or match-point situations, there is the crowd and you are by yourself. No one substitutes for you like in team sports. You take the credit and you take the blame. It’s all in your hands.”
The power of bread
The superstar has had a gluten-free diet since 2010 (Getty Images)While going gluten-free isn't a particularly bizarre view, the way he discovered his intolerance certainly was. Djokovic has been following the diet for more than a decade, having cut it completely out of his diet. That change came back in 2010, when the Serbian was looking for answers in the midst of a poor run of form.
He called upon Dr Igor Cetojevic, who diagnosed a gluten intolerance by holding bread to Djokovic's stomach and asking him to stretch out his arm. Djokovic found his arm to be weaker and has been a keen advocate for gluten-free diets ever since.
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He wrote in his book Serve To Win: "My life changed because I had begun to eat the right foods for my body, in the way that my body demanded. I eat a breakfast perfectly calibrated to my body for the day ahead - the same breakfast almost every day of my life."
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