Djokovic turns to spiritual guru, so what now for Boris?
Novak puts faith in New Age hugs to stop Andy!
Novak Djokovic has fallen under the influence of a spiritual guru as he attempts to fend off andy Murray’s challenge for the world No 1 position.
Pepe imaz is a former journeyman player from Spain who preaches a philosophy of Amor y Paz (love and peace) as the over-riding factors when coaching tennis.
a great believer in meditation and the power of lengthy hugs, imaz, 42, has become an increasingly significant presence in the life of the Serb, who has been in a relative slump since winning the French open in early june.
Djokovic became close to imaz after his brother Marko credited the Spaniard with lifting his depression after his own tennis career faltered more than two years ago.
Such is imaz’s influence that it was he — rather than Boris Becker and Marian vajda, the two coaches who guided Djokovic to the pinnacle of the world game — who accompanied the Serb to the Paris Masters this week.
The future of Becker’s relationship with 29-year-old Djokovic is now uncertain, with no assurances about their partnership beyond the end of this season.
amid all the speculation about Djokovic’s slide, the influence of imaz’s ‘New age’ beliefs has so far been overlooked but there is a clue to how close they have become in a remarkable video posted on the internet by the coach-cum-guru. More than two hours long, it shows Djokovic’s search for spiritual fulfilment.
Shot at imaz’s Marbella resort base shortly after Wimbledon, the video is set in a hotel conference room with a row of six people seated on a platform before an audience.
in the middle are Djokovic and the tousle-haired imaz, dressed in white shirt and trousers. They are flanked by Marko and former women’s top 10 player, Daniela Hantuchova.
imaz opens by leading a group meditation session with a rambling discourse on how the human soul needs to be nourished.
Djokovic then adds: ‘ We are all looking for love, happiness and harmony. We need to be able to look inwards and to establish this connection with a divine light.’
Later, Marko tells his story of how imaz cured his depression, saying: ‘i had a person who looked at me with just love, without judgment. Finally, after four years, i can tell my dad, my mum, my brothers, my friends that i love them.’
originally, the video was on imaz’s website but seems to have been removed in the past week.
Little-known outside Spain, imaz reached a career-high ranking of 167 and once made the French open second round, in 1998.
one acquaintance describes him as ‘a really lovely guy, but someone who has what some would consider strange ideas’.
His beliefs chime with Djokovic’s recent pronouncements, in which he has downplayed the importance of titles and being world No 1.
The Serb has this year taken to pushing his arms out to the crowd as part of his victory celebrations. This has been criticised as a cheesy public relations gesture but is said to have been at the instigation of imaz as a gesture of love. The guru’s presence — he was in the courtside box when Djokovic played doubles yesterday — adds to a complicated picture of what has been going on with Djokovic since he won the French open.
The player has admitted to a subsequent sense of de-motivation and there have also been references to issues in his private life perhaps affecting his performances around Wimbledon in late july.
after losing to Spain’s Roberto Bautista agut in the semi-finals of october’s Shanghai Masters, Djokovic tore his shirt in anger and became involved in a furious row with the umpire. Becker was not with him, and on the very same day turned up in the live audience of Strictly Come Dancing.
on Sunday Djokovic was coy about his coaching situation but said he felt ‘rejuvenated’ and ready to meet the challenge of Britain’s andy Murray, who won his third trophy in a row in vienna last week, for the No 1 ranking.
Both are in second-round action tomorrow with Djokovic taking on Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller or Nicolas almagro of Spain and Murray facing Spaniard Fernando verdasco.