Serve to Win: The 14-Day Gluten-Free Plan for Physical and Mental Excellence Hardcover – August 20, 2013

Novak caught my attention because of his fighting spirit and exemplary technique. He and several others broke into the top tennis ranks out of war torn Serbia enduring hardship and luck of training facilities. This is an unbelievable achievement in tennis sport by itself. I started to follow his matches but saw him gasping for air being unable to compete further in tough final sets. Suddenly he made a break through and broke into top 3! What happened? It was gluten! Novak went gluten free. At first I thought he follows a new popular fad, but I met people suffering with gluten allergies and saw how it could be bad in extreme sensitivity cases. When I saw his book, I read it right away captivated with his adventure with tennis, diet and meditation. Meditation could be recommended to anybody, but gluten free diet? Sports nutritionists featured in Tennis magazine advise to eat pasta before matches. I did that and it kept me going in final sets. What about gluten free, should I try it? Novak in his book advises to listen to your body and to pay attention to signals it is sending to you. This summer I was suffering with a prolonged case of allergies: my eyes would burn, eyelids swollen, sinuses and nose was clogged. It was difficult to breath through the nose during play; I was breathing through the mouth. I found relief in daily regiment of 24h allegra-D. As a sportsman I am afraid of allergy drugs: they affect thinking and balance, and this nasty pseudoephedrine every day! Ten years ago I started to drink beer during dinners and while watching TV at night, just a few, not much. As a result I added pretty fast 10 stubborn pounds around my waist. So I thought, maybe I should try to go gluten free also? I like veggies, it was easy for me. Pasta, bread, and beer - out! Next day I was able to breath without allergy pill, my nose cleared. On the third day while watching US Open I habitually grabbed a beer, 5 min later my nose got clogged. Aha! This is a gluten sensitivity symptom! Two weeks later on gluten free regiment I'm writing this review: my mind is clearer, I am calmer, more at peace with the world and myself, I can breath through my nose during the game, my sugar balance is better, I do not have urges to eat something right away to fight off sudden hunger, and I shed 7 pounds! Thank you Nole, you showed me an exemplary way to follow. Life without beer and pasta is possible - and it is bright and beautiful! Read this book, maybe it will help you too in some way :)Large portion of Djokovic book is devoted to various recipes of gluten-free meals. I skipped it for now to return to them later and try them out.Few word about myself: 5.0 NTRP, one handed backhand, idols: Sampras, Federer.

Nole is a beast both MENTALLY and physically. I’m learning what an amazing, loving, and giving human being he is. He didn’t have to write this book. He seems to have done so to share information that altered the course of his life with the understanding that others could do the same. As a physician I fully comprehend the power of creating health through excellent dietary fuel, exercise, hydration, and surrounding oneself to positive sources of energy through our choices. It’s easy to become complacent in one’s attention, or lack thereof, to these simple fundamentals to building greatness within oneself so that we can use it to give love and wonderful energy through excellence in our work and relationships every day. This book is such a great reminder of the importance of consistently practicing simple fundamentals to building a great life both internally and in our outer world. What a great read.

I'm a big fan of Novak Djokovic, so I purchased "Serve to Win" to learn more about his life. In that respect, the book is a bit of a let-down, given that it is not a traditional sports autobiography and focuses more on his recent diet changes and resulting tennis success. Novak does share some stories about his life, including a few passages about growing up in war-torn Serbia. At night, his family would hide in a bomb shelter, and in the day, he would practice tennis. He's lead an extraordinary life, which is probably part of the reason that he is so popular in Serbia today.However, the book spends most of its time discuss his health issues over the years, particularly the various breathing and fitness concerns that plagued his early career. These problems climaxed during a long five-set match at the Australian Open in 2010 against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Toward the end of that match, Djokovic crashed - he ran out of energy and lost the final two sets quickly. He talks about how frustrating it was to train so much and still have so little gas left in the tank at the end of long matches. The match happened to be watched by a Serbian nutritionist, who suggested that Novak be tested for allergies, especially gluten. Fast forward a year, and Novak is experiencing an incredible winning streak - winning three majors and finishing 2012 as the #1 player.Djokovic's gluten-free diet is explained in detail. I don't plan on using this diet, but I do appreciate the balanced tone he takes in discussing it. He doesn't claim that it's for everyone or that it's a miracle diet. He simply sets forth what it did for him and how he follows it. Novak even cites research on its effectiveness, while maintaining that he's not a medical expert and so forth. The book includes a section detailing what Novak eats during a typical day along with recipes; I like that he breaks it down into his four rules for eating, which could be simple for many people to follow. If one wants to start a gluten-free diet, then this book could be a good initial guide.So how about the tennis fans? Will they enjoy this book? I did overall, even though I kept hoping for more behind-the-scenes information. He mentions matches only in passing and mostly to illustrate his poor conditioning before his diet or his improved fitness after going gluten-free. Not much dishing here, although he does note his anger when Andy Roddick famously questioned his health issues (Andy recently gave a more explicit version of the story whereby he and Novak almost came to blows in the locker room). Ultimately, though, Novak has perhaps become too statesmen like, too sporting, to give us an insider's view of his life. In the meantime, "Serve to Win" will do.