That was never a thing with Nadal. It was with Djoke, but at the beginning of his career. I remember him punking out vs. Monfils at the French in 2005 or 2006, and doing that shyt. Djokovic doesn't do that anymore.
True, but some of those were for his breathing.
He has allergic asthma, since he was a kid.
In general asthma symptoms sometimes increase with exercise (specially in cold air)...
It's incredible that he's a professional athlete.
That condition probably led him to seek both healthy lifestyle (which helped his longevity) and strange non-medical conspiracies (that we all saw during covid)...
(He also has poor vision, and needs glasses/contact lenses... that's also strange for a professional athlete, and an inspiration to all the kids with glasses...)
His greatest legacy to me is not in tennis, it's reconciliation between Serbia and Croatia.
It was not due to any politician nor any official institution, it was initially just him and Goran Ivanišević as his coach, and more recently two musicians (Konstrakta and Baby Lasagna).
His covid tournament in Belgrade and Zadar had bad timing (and sent an awful message that cost a lot of lives), but it started a reconciliation process, that resulted in whole Serbia now cheering for Donna Vekić several years later...
Only Ðoković as a half Croat (his mom is Croat), and a Serbian nationalist with enough credibility among Serbian nationalists, had a platform to start such a reconciliation process.
Hopefully it will bring a more lasting piece in the region, and possibly save lives in the future.
Aside from bouts with Alcaraz and Sinner, Djoke winning recently isn't more impressive. Djoke was getting knocked out of Wimbledon by a past his prime Safin. Djoke is the GOAT, but don't overstate the case.
