Novak Djokovic goes gluten-free, becomes best tennis player in the world

Novak Djokovic is the best tennis player in the world right now.  Perhaps the most dominant player in any sport, says the WSJ:

"It's no secret that Djokovic has had a breakout season, or that he has been, by any reasonable standard, the world's best athlete of 2011. On Sunday, he beat Rafael Nadal in the Rome Masters, his fourth-straight win over the Spaniard. It was his second win over Nadal on clay in two weeks, and again, amazingly, he did it without losing a set. The match ran Djokovic's 2011 record to 37-0 with seven titles."

Note: It's extremely hard to beat Rafael Nadal.  It's near impossible to beat him on clay.  Nadal on clay is like a bird in flight.  More on Djokovic's dominance:

"Of Djokovic's 37 wins, 13 are against Top 10 players, including four against Nadal and three against Federer, who in all his years of dominance never started a season in so grand a fashion. If Djokovic reaches the French Open final, he could have 43 consecutive victories—one more than John McEnroe's record 42 to start 1984 (that streak ended in the French Open final, after McEnroe won the first two sets against Ivan Lendl).

Djokovic's 2011 on-court stats border on the absurd: He has won 89% of his service games, 43% of his return games and half of his break points. In his four matches against Nadal, he has repeatedly gotten the better of the Spaniard in rallies lasting longer than eight shots. No one has done that to Nadal in his professional career."

That's just insane -- 7 of his 37 wins (18.9%) are against Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.  So to what does Djokovic attribute his success?

"Last year, Djokovic's nutritionist discovered that Djokovic is allergic to the protein, which is found in common flours."

...

"Since last year, he's swearing off pasta, pizza, beer, French bread, Corn Flakes, pretzels, empanadas, Mallomars and Twizzlers—anything with gluten."

Of course, as the article points out, athletics can be extremely mental, dependent on confidence, and small changes (even placebos) can have large effects.  And if Djokovic had gone gluten-free and played worse, then I probably wouldn't have heard or posted about it.  But even so.

Go read the full article, if only to see the Journal's artistic depiction of Nadal and Federer dressed up as steaks.