Novak Djokovic Is Out Of The Olympics And Reportedly Also Out Of Cincinnati

since tom didn’t mention it, i’ll add that novak didn’t simply “pass” on playing mixed doubles, nor will he be “taking some time off” for no reason; he made these decisions because he has an arm injury he’s been carrying for a while. (zimonjic and becker both mentioned it at rio.)

August 9th, 2016 at 3:38 pm

jane – seems like a good decision to me.

August 9th, 2016 at 3:47 pm

And to your point yesterday – the commentators are indeed saying the courts are slow.

August 9th, 2016 at 3:48 pm

yes, slow BBB, and with a very high bounce. (i think it was bellucci who said they’re quite sticky/sand-papery too. )

agree it is a good decision. although not much play pre-USO, he needs to give the arm a rest. he chose to play canada to prep for olympics, and maybe it was good, but in the end, it’s all too much. olympics cram the calendar. something had to give for all of them.

August 9th, 2016 at 4:00 pm

He got away with mediocre play in Toronto, but Del Potro was just too good here.

This Konta/Kuznetsova match is no joke.

August 9th, 2016 at 4:08 pm

Sounds like the surface is taylor made for Rafa’s game. Look out Murray….

August 9th, 2016 at 4:11 pm

Disappointed he won’t do Cincinnati, but though he hasn’t wanted to make it a big deal, he has been injured, so skipping Cincy is a needed thing. He wasn’t going to miss the Olympics he had been waiting 4 years for, plus he had commitments to Zimonjic and Team Serbia he wasn’t going to duck unless absolutely disabled. Probably had mentally convinced himself that he would have a good shot at a medal even injured, such was his game lately.
Then he got the last player he wanted to face of those ranked under 32.
New reality. Time for rest and therapy, see if he is OK for the USO or not.
Hopefully he puts everything on the table as worth being looked at to tweak and adjust, besides the injury. Perhaps even the vegan diet he is on, which is controversial in high performance athletes subject to muscle wear and tear.

August 9th, 2016 at 4:18 pm

cf – Why is a vegan diet controversial for athletes in particular? And is it more controversial than a vegetarian diet?

Djokovic looks like he’s lost too much weight, so if the vegan diet is responsible for that, then I can see the point. But if he was already pescatarian, then giving up fish and dairy doesn’t seem like it would make much of a difference. But I’d be interested if there’s a reason people believe it’s not good for high performance athletes.

August 9th, 2016 at 4:24 pm

http://www.cheatsheet.com/health-fitness/10-male-athletes-you-didnt-know-were-vegan.html/?a=viewall

You can be obese on a Vegan diet, weight gain/lost is not the issue. There are some issues to watch out for ( B12 ) but you’ll be healthier by a long shot a plant based diet.

August 9th, 2016 at 5:27 pm

Not surprised Jane. Since he started jerking his arm to release what appeared to be shoulder tension, he has never been
as fit as he should be. He probably played Toronto because he thought he could get rid of the stiffness or whatever it was/is.

It happens. Just unfortunate about the timing.

August 9th, 2016 at 6:21 pm

skeezer, I didn’t mean that the vegan diet itself would necessarily trigger the weight loss, but rather that the change in diet might mean he hasn’t adjusted and isn’t eating enough.

Venus switched to vegan after she was diagnosed with Sjogren’s. So I’m inclined to wonder if a vegan diet would necessarily have a negative impact on an athlete’s performance.

August 9th, 2016 at 8:08 pm

Poor del potro doesn’t get credit for his win…its faker joker injury that gave him a win

August 9th, 2016 at 11:26 pm

BBB – the controversy on athlete, warrior diets is a constant. Since ancient times. The debate on vegan diets is fairly strong. Concerns are b-12, B6 deficiency, reduced strength, lowered energy reserves and stamina, and maybe most important longer body repair times without animal protein. Various vegans and vegetarians have argued to the contrary and said many famous veggie and grains and fruits and roots folk -are great athletes.
Some of the names brought forth, are athletes who went that way after their competitive playing days were over.
And there have been “active competitor” athletes who went into decline after going vegan.

August 9th, 2016 at 11:34 pm

Its not just “animal” protein, its “protein”
Yes the Vegan diet needs to be aware of making sure they have enough b12 and protein, but those are very doable through the plant based diet. Read and learn, don’t be uneducated. The health benefits for out weigh the cons, if any.

August 9th, 2016 at 11:43 pm

Fans debating whether Djoko’s vegan diet is suitable or not for a top athlete? Hilarious!
Do you guys really think he is such an idiot that he would jeopardize his career by switching to a vegan diet without consulting a top nutritionist? He is a multimillionaire and can afford the best advice.

August 10th, 2016 at 12:42 am

No, Keezer, the amino acid profile and presence of vitamins and trace minerals is more complete in animal protein than plant protein.
This problem can be addressed by a careful vegan diet, but any “slip up” and each person has a slightly different metabolism so some need more L-Tryptophan than others do, for example. And breaking down plant proteins to component amino acids takes long than with animal tissue, delaying body muscle & joint repair. Vegetarianism, in competitive athletes is also associated with loss of lean muscle mass, and an increased rate of muscle wastage with aging.

Yes, there are top athletes who have done well on meatless, dairyless, fishless diets….but other crash and burns like Carl Lewis after he went 100% Vegan. His competitive play became erratic. Some races he would win or place in Final 3. Next track event, he was out in the 1st heat. No more Mr. Consistency. Then he began winning less and less. ..

I’m just saying that it bears looking into with Djokovic’s people.

August 10th, 2016 at 1:20 am

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/aug/10/parents-children-vegan-diet-prosecuted-italian-law

An Italian approach….Purely anecdotal, I have veggie/vegan friends who are perpetually hungry and seem to scoff chocolate/sugary snacks all the time. Sure, we all need far less animal protein than we Westerners eat, but a little goes a long way.

August 10th, 2016 at 1:52 am

margot, interesting. thanks. i do think it’s a fine line, between living a healthy lifestyle and becoming obsessive about it. this article is worth a read too…

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/aug/16/orthorexia-mental-health-eating-disorder

August 10th, 2016 at 2:31 am

for novak fans, one writer to watch out for – not a tennis pundit either, thankfully! – who loves novak’s tennis is joe posnanski of NBC. here’s his write up on the delpo match

http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/posnanski-rio-diary-del-potro-stuns-djokovic-olympics

August 10th, 2016 at 3:18 am

see also this beautiful piece on the wimbledon 2015 final. and you might wanna note that the said writer was, admittedly, once a fed fan, but during one of their many blistering matches, he found himself cheering for nole, instead, and he’s never looked back. sometimes these things happen organically – as we tennis / sports fans know. cheers.

http://joeposnanski.com/500-words-on-novak-djokovic/

August 10th, 2016 at 3:21 am

Jane:

Good to read something x two that is not copied from one original source.

August 10th, 2016 at 3:50 am

jane,

Thanks very much for those links, particulary first one, he nailed it, not like certain “knowledgable” fan who while gloating over Nole’s defeat said that Nole “produced nada” or to quote him:

“Delpo is not Slam material nowadays, look at his post wrist record.
Quit making excuses, the worlds number 1 had his best shot at a medal in his prime, produced nada.”

Every single person who watched the match said that Delpo played like world #1, blinder, like s GS winer, he just didn’t miss no matter what Nole tried, but “knowledgeable poster that plays tennis” is blinded with jealousy and hate, not so much towards Nole as towards his fans, most of them.

August 10th, 2016 at 7:15 am

I can’t believe after the so called “Daniica”,”Brando” and now “Matt4”..this person was allowed to get through for 4,5 times already?Really Sean?Very disappointed in you..

August 10th, 2016 at 8:49 am

But one behind dumpster really had me laught

August 10th, 2016 at 9:12 am

you’re welcome wog boy, glad you enjoyed.

August 10th, 2016 at 9:29 am

CF – many thanks for the response.

August 10th, 2016 at 9:39 am

Jane, two great articles.

His writing style and thoughts on Nole are great. I’ve never read him before.

The picture of Nole and Del Potro at the net speaks volumes.

Thanks.

August 10th, 2016 at 9:44 am

glad you liked them elina.

nadal’s thoughts on novak’s loss were very kind and come from a place of understanding, i think

http://sports.opera.com/www.sgperlbesch.de/www.brynas.se?sport=baseball&page=news&view=article&news_id=829938&localization_id=www

August 10th, 2016 at 10:17 am

So if DFW writes of Federer as a religious experience, he is a nutcase but if Joe Posnanski claims Djoko is invincible after he defeats a way-past-his-prime Federer, JP is rational. Again JP claims every one of Djoko’s weapons is great but not the greatest in its category but put them together and we have something magical, something inexplicable which defines the mystery and greatness of Djoko (the invincible). If this not way over the top, I do not know what is.

August 10th, 2016 at 12:09 pm