Novak’s head, heart, and spiritual communication as a pathway to the 22nd Grand Slam

By Avinash Thombre

The grand slams are where the best of the best of tennis happens. Being an avid tennis fan, I enjoy watching the slams. Even better, being a communication scholar, I also witness various communicative things on and off the court. So this past Sunday, I woke up early to watch Novak Djokovic make history by getting closer to the GOAT — the greatest of all times in the tennis world. Of course, during the entire Australian Open (AO), one got to see an array of the best technicalities of tennis play; however, what got me more than anything was the multitude of communicative micro and macro nonverbal practices that were on display when Novak was playing.

After hitting the final winning shot, for instance, the Serb pointed to his head, heart, and genitals (he called it his masculine strength to overpower all the odds to reach this milestone) and then soon after broke down in a flood of tears. He explained his three-part victory celebration: “It’s a little code language we have. They understand. It takes big heart, of course, a lot of mental strength, and the third thing as well to make it!” Novak explained this later.

Or his now famous running up to family members stand, hugging each of them, crying profusely, and literally falling on the ground. One can call it theatrics, but there is more to these emotional outbursts. Later, explaining his emotional breakdown Djokovic said while clutching the Norman…