ACE ADVICE

THE Gold Coast Suns have turned to an international sporting superstar for wisdom ahead of the 2021 AFL season.

The entire Suns playing list was treated to an hour-long Zoom Q&A with world No.1 tennis professional Novak Djokovic on the eve of his semi-final victory over Aslan Karatsev at the Australian Open in February.

The Q&A was run by Suns football manager Jon Haines and organised with help from the club’s performance dietitian Ben Parker, who worked in Djokovic’s personal nutrition team at the Open.

Djokovic spoke to the players about the importance of having an elite mindset and how it can directly affect performance.

“Belief is a word that is thrown around very often,” Djokovic said in the interview.

“How I like to describe it is belief is only a word if you don’t embody it, if you don’t really truly live it and feel it.

“Anything that you say in life to yourself as an encouragement or self-criticism has an effect only when you actually feel the resonance of that word in your whole body, and then it starts to manifest in your life.”

Djokovic’s record reflects the champion’s mentality.

In February, his victory in the Australian Open final over Daniil Medvedev saw him extend his record to nine titles in Australia, and 18 grand slam singles championships overall, just two shy of all-time leaders

Roger Federer and Nadal on 20.

Djokovic also overtook Federer for the most consecutive weeks at world No.1, with the Serbian now holding the position for 311 weeks.

When asked what it took to become the best in the world, Djokovic had a simple answer.

“If you really want to be the best in the world, or best in

Rafael your country, or best in your club, then you have to step out of the comfort zone,” he said.

“You have to go into the unknown in order to grow – it’s as simple as that.

“You cannot grow if you’re in the comfort zone.”

The Suns will put his words into practice when they travel to play West Coast in Round 1 on Sunday, March 21.