The Reason Behind Djokovic’s Vast Improvement this Year

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904787404576532854267519860.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop

Well there you have it. No, it’s not doping. Everyone who said Djokovic is doping can now eat their words. The effect that the pressurized egg has is very similar than the effect of doping as far as I’m concerned. The egg is twice as effective as blood doping, which is illegal, in helping the body to absorb oxygen. So at least the doping accusations have been accurate in that regard. But the pressurized egg is 100% legal. So you have to say Djokovic was smart for finding a legal way to get ahead of the other athletes. I have always thought that his gluten free diet does not quite explain the significant improvements his been able to make this year. I mean since when does a gluten free diet transform an athlete like that? For me it is clear that this egg is what made the big difference. You can read all about the benefits of using it in the article.

The main thing that is does is help with recovery time. You can see this very clearly in Djokovic’s game. He used to become out of breath very easily and retired from matches due to fatigue. I have read some people’s reactions to this article and some people say it nonsense or a placebo effect blah blah blah. Well the facts are there. I don’t know how much more obvious can it get. The gluten diet does not explain why Djokovic is all of a sudden in supreme shape and never gets tired anymore. The egg works. I have no doubt about that. The question is now what the reaction of the other players will be. I mean the effects of the egg is similar than doping, so other players are gonna want to use it, or Djokovic will have an unfair advantage over them. But it is one thing to buy one, and another to carry it around with you.

For that you would need a private jet. I’m not sure how Djokovic does it, but while in New York he is staying with someone who has an egg. The top players may be able to gain an advantage if they can afford private jets. Should Roger use one of these? Clearly he can afford it and and he even rents a private jet from Netjets. Using one of these things could extend Roger’s career. It is clearly beneficial and could help him to win one or two more slams. At this point he has to try whatever it takes to stay ahead, since the rest is catching up with him fast. And he has the money after all. But knowing Roger, there is no way he would do it. I mean he can hardly stomach the idea of hawkeye, how would he stomach a pressurized egg from the future? He is just too stubborn. This type of technology may help players to extend their careers in the future, but sadly I don’t see Roger taking advantage of it.

Today Roger plays his first round match in the US Open against Giraldo. The two have never met before. I think Giraldo is more of a clay court player and Roger should be OK. Other matches that may be interesting on day one is Cilic vs Harrison and Dimitrov vs Monfils. It seems that hurricane Irene was not too brutal in the end and that it won’t interrupt the US Open. My thoughts go out to the families who lost loves ones in the hurricane.

Update: http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/interviews/2011-08-29/201108291314648849241.html

Well it seems the article that wrote a story about this had it all wrong. Djokovic said in his presser today that he have only used the machine twice last year and not so far this year. He is also not planning on using it at the US Open, even though the person he is staying with has one. This means it could not have helped him since you must use it three times a week for results. This all strikes me as a bit strange, but I suppose it shows how the media uses lies to sensationalize everything and that you should not easily believe anything you read. It is still a bit hard for me to believe that the gluten free diet was responsible for Djokovic’s huge physical improvements. But…whatever.

Roger Federer

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27 Comments

Dave
@ Ruan, wouldn’t this constitute an unfair advantage over other players. I thought that natural talent, physical endurance and mental fortitude comes from hard work and years of training. I think this is ludicrous and should be scrutinized thoroughly. So Novak without this Mork&Mindy Egg probably would have lost a lot more tournaments. I think the A.T.P. should ban this immediately. I am curious as to Novak’s game should he not use this vile contraption for a resonable amount of time if it would have an adverse effect on his game. One thing I know about Roger is that he still would never retire from a losing match with or with out this “new technology”.

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Ru-an Reply: August 29th, 2011 at 6:09 pm Well using that thing is legal and it’s not like it’s gamesmanship. Whether they should ban it or not is not up to me. If the tests for doping is such a joke then they may as well legalize this. At least there is no known side effects on health for this thing.

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dave Reply: August 31st, 2011 at 2:24 pm http://blogs.tennis.com/thewrap/2011/08/egg-role.html @ Ruan, I don’t know if you read this or not but Tignor’s wrote an article on this new egg technology. It’s pretty interesting.

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neil
The “egg” is the official explanation; unofficially I suspect plain old-fashoned EPO’s have more to do with the rapid rise of Djokovic this year. But the weak testing programme of tennis will never find that out for us. Novak has no worries about that (along with Nadal, Serena, Murray and so on.)

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GARY
Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is the Federer blog, but reading about Serena Williams saying people thought she was cool for her US Open tirade, just makes me sick. What a dumb thing to say. I’ll look up to Kim Clisters in women tennis for having class, and not that insipid grunting too. As for the GOAT, he is doing what needs to be done in the first round, and that’s good enough for me. 6-4 6-3 3-0 at the moment. Later, G Share | Serena: ‘I got really popular’ after 2009 outburst Ticker – Monday, August 29, 2011 Serena Williams says she became “popular” after she imploded and cursed out a lineswoman during her loss to Kim Clijsters in the 2009 U.S. Open semifinals. Williams was later fined for the incident, where she threatened to “take this (expletive) ball and shove it down your (expletive) throat.” “I just remember I lost, and that was that,” Serena told reporters on Monday, possibly with a touch of sarcasm . “I got really popular. A lot of people were telling me they thought I was super cool, that they’d never saw me so intense. So, yeah, it was awesome.” Williams, who later apologized, said she isn’t sure if she learned anything from the incident. “I don’t know. I don’t think about it,” she said. “Oh, my God, that was like two years ago.”

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steve
Regarding Djokovic’s supposed use of the “egg,” the man himself says it ain’t so: http://espn.go.com/tennis/usopen11/story/_/id/6907692/us-open-get-caught-roger-federer-age The $75,000 device simulates high-altitude conditions and is said to promote recovery by saturating blood cells with oxygen. Problem is, Djokovic said Monday, he’s not using it here. “All I can say is that I have used it a couple of times last year, and I haven’t used it since,” he said. “It’s very interesting technology, but I don’t know the effect of it. It has nothing to do with my success that I had in last 10 months.” However, this story does have the effect of smoking Djokovic out. For if his remarkable improvement doesn’t result from regular stints in a futuristic pressure chamber, then we’re left with the considerably less believable explanation of the “gluten-free diet,” coupled with a sudden burst of “confidence.”

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Ru-an Reply: August 30th, 2011 at 4:05 am Yeah I updated my post with Djokovic’s presser earlier. Maybe he’s lying and using it all the time. It’s all too confusing.

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Manu Reply: August 30th, 2011 at 4:44 am Tennis, like Federer’s Form, is shit at the moment. The last tournament I enjoyed without having any doubts on doping was Wimbledon 2009.

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wilyam Reply: August 30th, 2011 at 12:06 pm Well that is your problem Ru-an. Yo are always saying whenever your fave Exman loses that its unfair, unfair. But don’t you think that what you are doing is also unfair. Hiding your accusations with insinuations or behind “maybe’s”. When you have nothing concrete to back you up, I think its best to shut up. Or is the Exman using you to vent his frustration over his losses? Of course, only a coward does that. And of course, maybe, errr, can be? err could be? Only people like you and the Exman who could not accept the passing of times could come up with such a scary story.

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Manu Reply: August 30th, 2011 at 12:24 pm Ahem…RUAN’s FEDERER BLOG. That’s enough in his defense, I believe.

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Roberto Gonzalez Reply: August 31st, 2011 at 7:07 pm Being a Federer fan does not being you have to utter stupid stuff that makes no sense at all which Ruan does. Ruan brings a bad name to Federer. I’m pretty sure Federer would not approve of Ruan’s ridiculous insinuations. He has made Federer-fanship a religion with Federer being the God and other tennis players as false gods. Spare us from Federer-ism and focus on rationalism. If you can’t do that, rename your blog to “Ruan’s ‘Federer is always going to be the greatest and all other players cannot legally beat Federer and the ones who beat Federer dope ” blog.

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Ru-an Reply: August 31st, 2011 at 8:07 pm I don’t know what you are talking about. Just a post ago I said that Djokovic can’t be doping. I hardly ever bring up doping although I allow my readers to comment on it, as the ATP’s testing is clearly a joke. Make a proper contribution if you want to remain on this blog.

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Ru-an Reply: August 31st, 2011 at 8:09 pm Go complain to the ATP is the doping issue bothers you. I’m not the one making the testing rules.

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flo
I think I should clear up (and this has no bearing on your opinion of Djokovic and his meteoric rise) that the hyberbaric chamber (?) has been around since at least the 1994 because I remember people talking about it during the NHL playoffs about some team using it (iirc, Detroit Red Wings). So it’s not recent in the sense that any player from the 90s could have had access if they ponied up and called the right people.

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Balthazar
I will give the Djoker (and Nadal) the benefit of the doubt when it comes to doping and the use of exotic machines. It is possible that the Djoker’s sudden meteoric rise could be attributed to something as prosaic as reaching one’s physical peak in one’s early to mid-twenties, with several dashes of extra training, better diet, and even hypnosis thrown in. After all, when Roger rose to the top, it was also very sudden and dramatic. So one either has to suspect Roger of doping also, or adopt an agnostic attitude for now. I will say this though. I read somewhere that Roger was the only tennis star of this era to vote for preserving players’ blood test samples for 8 years. Does he know something we don’t?

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Dave Reply: August 30th, 2011 at 10:16 pm Let me know when you find out where you read the preservation of blood samples and we’ll see if what you claim was taken out of context or if it even exist at all. I want you to back up what you said.

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neil Reply: August 31st, 2011 at 1:07 am Dave, it was widely reported, and commented on, a few years ago, when the issue of doping arose in tennis, that Federer advocated keeping test samples for up to 8 years, if it would help keep the sport clean. He was simply acknowledging that tennis could adopt the same standards that are being applied or urged in other sports. The 8-year proposal came from the IOC.

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dave Reply: August 31st, 2011 at 4:09 am @Balthazar, I do apologize for misunderstanding what you wrote. I was way off on what you had stated on what Roger advocating keeping samples for eight years.

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neil Reply: August 31st, 2011 at 12:54 am B, Roger beat Sampras at Wimbledon at 19. He was regarded as the most talented young player on the tour. He won his first major a couple of years later, at 21, and then completely dominated for nearly 5 years. Now, at 30, he is declining. That’s a pretty normal career path for a player of his always remarkable skills. Djokovic, on the other hand, showed that he was a solid No.3 for the better part of 4 years and then, in mid-career, in the space of one month – December last year – moves into pure overdrive to become the well-nigh unbeatable machine that he is this year. No more breathing and stamina problems for a player who was always weak in that department. There is no comparison with Roger’s rise to the top of the game. You should go easy on the hypnosis. It’s affecting your perception.

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Manu Reply: August 31st, 2011 at 2:58 am The thing is, you don’t need eggs to realize who is doping and who isn’t.

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Balthazar
Neil, why should I go easy on the hypnosis? It’s a great tool for overcoming shortcomings, mental blocks, and lack of motivation. Come to think of it, Federer should partake in a series of sessions to help him through his present funk. Regarding the Djoker’s rise in comparison to Roger’s, every individual has a unique curve of ascension to the top. In the Borg era, the stars began to dominate in their late teens. That is no longer the case today. Roger peaked between the ages of 23 and 27. Nadal broke out to win other Majors besides the French around 22. The Djoker had to contend with these two great champions, so he was stuck at # 3 through his early twenties. He is now peaking at the age of 24. What is so unusual about that? It fits right into the pattern for this tennis era. Now, when it comes to the Djoker’s egg issue/prior asthma, etc., I would not be at all surprised if he’s lying through his teeth and using that contraption much more than he’s letting on, since it seems to have eliminated his asthmatic attacks during matches and has given him more energy. Is this unethical? Yes. But it’s legal, and that’s all he cares about…. Time for my self-hypnosis session….

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Dolores
B- your comment on the Djoko egg issue…..questioning his use of the egg more than he is letting on. WSJ, August 30, 2011 article “Heard on the Field – Djokovich backtracks on his pod time”, makes you wonder how much we can believe of his use of this contraption? Read the article.

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Donna
I am a integrative health practitioner, and from my own experience, as well as clinical feedback from patients. Going gluten-free (better yet, also cut down fructose, and pasteurized dairy products) can make a huge difference in mental clarity and physical stamina, and overall health. For example, I find myself not having brain fog or “food coma” after lunch anymore, also my seasonal allergy sx went way down. Some of my patients reported less arthritic pain and less abdominal bloating. Take a look at these renowned docs say about gluten and health (and there are many other gluten-free proponents): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/gluten-what-you-dont-know_b_379089.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/gluten-what-you-dont-know_b_379089.html

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neil Reply: September 1st, 2011 at 1:29 pm So you are now about to become a professional tennis player? I used to notice that Djoko suffered from ‘brain fog’ (that’s a nice scientific term – for whatever) and ‘abdominal bloating’ before he went gluten-free. (He was huge.) And as for his arthritis – well, say no more. How the hell did he ever make to No.3 in the world with all his ailments. You do product endorsements?

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donna
Neil, I just want to offer different perspective and share my experience regarding this sentence “I have always thought that his gluten free diet does not quite explain the significant improvements his been able to make this year. ” Look, I personally know a lot of people who experienced great transformation in health, stamina and concentration by changing their diet. This is not just my experience, but many others. So to me, this transformation in Novak due to (at least PARTLY) his diet is totally believable. That is just my 2 cents, take it or leave it. Endorsement? I don’t think I have endorsed any products or advertised for myself. Do you even know what “gluten-free” mean? (it means diet free of gluten, mainly found in wheat, also in rye and barley) It is not a product at all. I won’t even promote gluten-free processed foods because I think they are junk. Andy Murray has good things to say about going gluten-free too. Would you say he is endorsing a product too?

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neil Reply: September 2nd, 2011 at 2:19 am So Andy Murray has good things to say about being gluten-free? I am sure Andy is endorsing a product but it’s not one that we can publically know about. Look up “http://tennishasasteroidproblem.blogspot.com/” to see what people say about Andy. More to the point, what does Roger say about tennis players going “gluten-free”? Um, not much. Maybe he should consider going gluten-free? It fixes an awful lot of problems for professional tennis players. (By the way, based on your analysis of Djokovic’s meteoric rise to the top this year I am less convinced than you are that going gluten-free cures “brain fog”.)

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Goose
I know people affiliated with the tour. You have ‘no’ idea’ what goes on tour from a doping perspective but the ATP is a business & when business & ethics intersect strange things can happen. To put it bluntly, doping is rampant & I mean ‘rampant’. I know – it sucks to hear. The gluten thing & the ‘egg’ are nice cover-up talking points but at some point the real story will come out & it won’t be pretty.

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