Targeting a record eighth Australian title and a 17th Grand Slam crown, Novak Djokovic attributes his continuing success partly to his diet, having given up meat more than four years ag
Novak Djokovic returns to Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka yesterday. Pic/AFP
Melbourne: Novak Djokovic trumpeted the benefits of his plant-based diet Friday in helping him thrash Yoshihito Nishioka and move into the Australian Open fourth round. The Serbian defending champion swept past the Japanese 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in just 85 minutes on Rod Laver Arena to reach a Grand Slam round of 16 for the 50th time—second only to Roger Federer's 67.
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"I love playing on the court. I like the conditions," said the World No. 2 after firing down 17 aces, along with 40 winners. "I'm starting to feel very, very comfortable and compact on the court. I'm going to try to keep that going." The win set up a clash with 14th seed Diego Schwartzman for a place in the quarter-finals after the Argentinian beat Djokovic's countryman Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7).
Targeting a record eighth Australian title and a 17th Grand Slam crown, he attributes his continuing success partly to his diet, having given up meat more than four years ago. "I'm very pleased to be plant-based and play on this level now for four-and-a-half years. There has been a lot of criticism also. You know, people around me didn't really think that I could do that," he said.
"Hopefully, I can inspire other athletes that it is possible to be plant-based and to recover well, to have strength, to have muscles. I'm not a weightlifter, of course, but I do have an optimal balance between the strength and power and speed. And, you know, nothing seems to be missing, at least from my experience. So I will keep on enjoying that."
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