Tennis stars travel worldwide more than any other group of athletes due to the international nature of the sport.
With tour-level tournaments held in 29 countries on five continents, men’s players will have traveled a total of 2.3 million km in the 2024 season, according to ATP data.
Every player knows how important it is to get over jet lag quickly and has their own method of trying to regulate their circadian rhythm.
Novak Djokovic, known for meticulously tuning his body, tries to “overhydrate” during his flight by adding lemon, mint and salt to his water.
“When I arrive at the hotel, I ground myself as quickly as possible with bare feet on natural ground, followed by a warm bath with Epsom salt,” says the 24-time major champion. told Travel + Leisure magazine, external.
“Then I try to watch the sunrise the first morning to reset my brain.”
Natural herbal tablets, which often contain botanicals such as valerian, hops, chamomile and passion flower, are a popular coping strategy, while many players have turned to melatonin as a sleep aid.
However, taking the hormone, which your brain produces in response to darkness and therefore helps you sleep, has led to serious consequences for some key players.
Six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek was suspended for a month in 2024 after she failed a doping test because the melatonin she took to prevent jet lag was contaminated.
In 2023, Greece’s then number five Stefanos Tsitsipas blamed tablets for a sluggish performance in his French Open quarter-final by Carlos Alcaraz.
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