“It was really just about staying in shape,” Fitness coach reveals how Novak Djokovic trained during the lockdown

“It was really just about staying in shape,” Fitness coach reveals how Novak Djokovic trained during the lockdown
Novak Djokovic was in Marbella during the lockdown

Novak Djokovic and his team were in Los Angeles preparing for the Miami and Indian Wells Masters events before the season was temporarily suspended owing to the coronavirus pandemic. The Serbian was preparing to claim his 5th Sunshine Double before the pandemic gathered force and the season had to be stopped abruptly.

As they left Los Angeles, Marco Panichi, Djokovic’s fitness trainer, assumed that the season was going to resume soon and handed the Serbian an exercise programme to prepare for the clay court season in May. “We all thought that he would be back playing again quite soon,” Panichi said. “At that stage none of us could imagine what lay ahead.”

Marco Panichi had gone to his home in Rome, Italy which had quickly become an epicenter of the virus. He said that it was good to be home for a while after being out on tour for majority of the year. “It was much worse in the north of Italy, but we still had to spend two months at home. Obviously with so many deaths it was a terrible situation for the country, but for those of us who normally have to travel around the world for 50 weeks of the year it was actually quite good to be at home for a change.”

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“It’s not as though he’s a young kid,” Marco Panichi on Novak Djokovic’s fitness

Marco Panichi believed that the main aim was to keep Djokovic in good shape during the lockdown

Novak Djokovic was in Marbella during the lockdown and soon it became very clear that the lockdown would last for a longer while than expected. Marco Panichi kept in touch with the Serbian and even gave him a training programme to keep him in shape. “It was really just about staying in shape,” Panichi said. “Because we didn’t know when he would be playing again we couldn’t plan for anything specific. The good thing is that Nole knows his body extremely well. It’s not as though he’s a young kid you have to keep a close eye on. For the most part he knew himself what he needed to do.”

Marco Panichi believed that although the top players kept in shape during the unprecedented times, it was still difficult for them to return to courts playing their best tennis. “It can take a little time to get used to being back on court, dealing with competition, dealing with different emotions,” he said. The Italian further pointed out that the players participating in Challenger Events would have faced more difficulties because of their lack of participation in exhibition events. “Most of them weren’t playing in exhibition events, so I think it would have taken them a bit longer to adjust,” he said.

Novak Djokovic and team united for the Adria Tour which was held in June and organised by Djokovic, with players participating from across the Balkan States. However the tour was halted in the second week because four players including Djokovic and Panichi tested positive for coronavirus. Instead of being a welcome event, it ended by bringing up big controversies.

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