The tussle for the world No. 1 ranking between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray is at its crescendo this week at the Paris Masters. While Murray is giving his heart out on the field, Djokovic looks to be working differently to keep his place at the top of the rankings.
The Serbian is said to be receiving philosophical and spiritual support from former player-turned-spiritual instructor Pepe Imaz, according to reports. Imaz is a Spaniard who reached a career high ranking of No. 146 in the ATP rankings in 1998. One of the reasons that Djokovic has been keen to work with Imaz is because the latter has helped his brother, Marko, get past his struggles with depression successfully.
Imaz’s methodology is called Amor y Paz, referring to love and peace in Spanish and entails meditation as a treatment. This week, in Paris, Djokovic is accompanied only by Imaz as a part of his team, with both his coaches Boris Becker and Marian Vajda absent in his box.
On his part, the world No. 1 disagreed with reports that Imaz is his spiritual guide. Addressing a press conference in Paris, the 12-time Grand Slam champion said, “I don’t know where you heard that he’s a guru. And, he’s been part of my team for several years. He’s been in tennis for all his life. I’m just glad that he came this week, together with my brother, to be with me and work with me. It’s all funny and it’s all, in the end of the day, people can say and judge and do whatever they want, so I’m not going to give any room for speculations anymore. He’s been there, and he’s part of the coaching team and that’s all.”
Djokovic, who is the defending champion in Paris, opened his title defence bid with a win in the second round against Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller. He next plays Grigor Dimitrov in the third round.