Tennis Star Novak Djokovic Just Pulled the Splits With Belgian Gymnasts

Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic just showed off exactly how limber he is in a new social media post, where he dropped in on a couple of Team Belgium’s Olympic athletes and joined them for a stretching session. “Working on my splits,” he wrote in the caption accompanying the carousel of images on Instagram, which show him pretty successfully pulling off the difficult move alongside gymnasts Nina Derwael and Maellyse Brassart.

Doing the splits requires a considerable amount of flexibility, and is considered pretty tough for most guys, unless you’re a lifelong gymnast or Jean Claude Van Damme. But then again, Djokovic has been demonstrating a near-peerless level of athleticism for almost two decades now, earning a reputation as one of the greatest male tennis players in the world, with a Grand Slam winning record that matches the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Even when injured, the Serbian player’s fitness is impressive. Back in 2018, after a “medical intervention” which involved him undergoing surgery for an issue in his elbow, Djokovic threw himself into his intensive rehabilitation regime, which consisted of the kinds of exercises that anyone else would program into a core workout when they want to challenge themselves.

The 2020 Tokyo Games, which are finally going ahead after a year’s delay due to the pandemic, will mark the start of Djokovic’s hard court summer season. He’s hoping to improve on the bronze medal he won in Beijing in 2008, and get one step closer to the coveted Golden Slam—when a player wins all four Grand Slam competitions in addition to winning gold at the Olympics.

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