Being an elite athlete requires mastery of mind, body and, occasionally, some unorthodox skills. As part of the December 2024 Total Athlete issue, SI explores how today’s complete competitors are expanding what’s possible with new fitness frontiers, cutting edge technology, mental training and more—from the behemoths of the NFL’s offensive line, to a versatile WNBA veteran, to a special group of athletes who forgo the fundamentals and go against the grain. 

Back in the olden times—by which we mean the early 2000s—a retired tennis player could join the senior tour upon turning 35. The rationale: He was sufficiently old to be a nonfactor on the ATP Tour; but sufficiently young to be somewhat immune both from irrelevance and lower back pain.

Which is to say that Novak Djovokic, currently 37, would be almost three years into his eligibility for what’s affectionately known as “the Geezer Circuit.” Instead, he continues to win Olympic gold medals, beat players almost half his age, contend for his 25th major singles title, and generally clown the very concept of time.

How has Djokovic been able to do it? “It’s complicated,” he says with his familiar Cheshire Cat grin. There’s a physical component. As he has aged, he has pared down his playing schedule and has decided that maybe he doesn’t need to play in smaller, nonmajor events. He emphasizes flexibility over strength. He is meticulous about his diet—he has famously rewarded himself for winning majors by indulging in … a square of dark chocolate.

Djokovic is known for his superior fitness and flexibility, but his mental game is also sharp. / Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

But the root of his longevity comes from his mental strength, fortified through years of meditation, visualization and other sports psychology techniques.

Roger Federer played stylish, debonair tennis, obvious to the untrained eye of even the most casual observer. Rafael Nadal came armed with muscle, his tennis predicated on toil and trouble and exertion. Djokovic’s trump card is more subtle and less evident. He has inner strength. And so long as he has the mindfulness and self-belief that almost has him bending spoons with his brain on changeovers, well, he will remain a threat.

We asked Djovokic to articulate his psychology and provide advice to the mortals. Here are some of his suggestions.

Illustration by Andrew DeGraff

• Use fear to your advantage: “I fear to lose a match. I fear to let myself down. I fear to let my coach down. I fear that I won’t deliver the game that everyone expects me to deliver. Maybe this is the first and only time a fan is gonna watch me. They want to see the best version … all these expectations bring high intensity.”

• Observe as much as possible: “The battle is much more than just when you face each other. In tennis, when we’re changing ends, when we’re sitting on the bench, I’ll look at the big screen when it shows my opponent. How is he drinking water? Is he sweating more than usual? How is he breathing?”

• Hear what you want to hear: In the 2019 Wimbledon final, Djokovic was a point from losing to Federer. This match would not only determine the title of tennis’s ultimate event, but it would also loom large in the sport’s historical GOAT debate. A partisan crowd favored Federer, but Djokovic processed it differently. “I like to transmute it in a way: When the crowd is chanting ‘Roger! Roger!’ I hear ‘Novak! Novak!’ It sounds silly, but I try to convince myself that it’s like that.”

• Focus on your inhales and exhales: “Conscious breathing is super important to mental work, especially in the moments when you’re under tension. In an individual sport, you have no one to replace you if something is going in the wrong direction. It really helps to re-center. It’s normal to experience doubts and fears, to be negative, to be stressed, to be pessimistic in your head. But it’s important to bounce back to the present moment.”

• Get away from it all: “As an athlete, it’s easy to think that every moment you are not training—or thinking about your sport—someone is gaining on you. But that’s not true. It’s important to train, but it can be just as important not to train. Going for a walk, spending time with your family, reading. That helps with balance.”

• Use your experience: “I was slightly faster 10 years ago. But I’m able to play smarter today. I’m also able to cope with the pressure better than I used to. Under-
standing how to deal with it—because I’ve been in those moments so many more times—is such an advantage.