‘Iron Man’ Novak Djokovic keeps mum about mysterious object on chest

French Open
Novak Djokovic jovial

First there was the “magic potion” and now Novak Djokovic’s team is leading the way when it comes nanotechnology with his latest “secret” revealed during the French Open.

The 22-time Grand Slam winner weathered an early storm from Marton Fucsovics during his second-round match at Roland Garros on Wednesday as the Hungarian gave as good as he got in the 90-minute opening set before the third seed ran away with the match, winning 7-6 (7-2), 6-0, 6-3.

At the end of the first set, Djokovic decided to change shirts and a bizarre metal-looking object taped to his chest caught the eye of many, prompting former tennis player and commentator Jim Courier to joke on Tennis Channel: “Something taped to Novak. Have you ever seen Robert Downey Jr. in the same room as Djokovic? Maybe Novak is Iron Man.”

After the match Djokovic was asked about the accessory that was strapped on his chest and he replied: “When I was a kid I liked Iron Man a lot, so I try to impersonate Iron Man.”

He added: “My team delivers an incredibly efficient nanotechnology to help me deliver my best on the court, so that’s the biggest secret of my career. If it wasn’t for that, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here.”

It is not the first time that some of the things that Djokovic’s team has come up with has baffled the tennis community during one of the Serbian’s matches as in the past they have delivered a “magic potion”.

At Wimbledon last year, the former world No 1 was seen drinking – or inhaling – a strange powder during a changeover and when asked about it after the match he joked: “Magic potion, that is all I can say. You’ll find out soon, but I can’t speak about it now. You’ll find out soon.”

And at the ATP Finals in Turin, his team was seen mixing his drinks during one of his matches and they made it clear that they didn’t want anyone to see what they were doing.

When asked about their strange behaviour after the match, the tennis great said: “It’s going to come out as one of the supplement, let’s say, lines that I’m doing right now with drink and few other things.”

Iron Man Djokovic will return to action on Friday when he takes on 29th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain for a place in the fourth round.

READ MORE: Novak Djokovic’s wife Jelena gets involved in drink controversy: ‘To be private makes you dodgy nowadays’

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