Australian Open 2026: How Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek and more avoid jet lag
Due to the international nature of the sport, tennis stars travel the world more than any other group of athletes.
According to ATP data, men’s players will have traveled a total of 2.3 million kilometers during the 2024 season, with tour-level competition taking place in 29 countries on five continents.
Every player knows the importance of overcoming jet lag quickly and has their own way of trying to regulate their circadian rhythm.
Novak Djokovic is known for meticulously conditioning his body in an attempt to “hydrate” on the fly, adding lemon, mint and salt to his water.
“When I get to the hotel, I put my bare feet on natural ground as quickly as possible and then take a hot shower with Epsom salts,” the 24-time Grand Slam champion told Travel + Leisure., external.
“Then on the first morning, I try to watch the sunrise to reset my brain.”
Natural herbal tablets, often containing botanicals such as valerian, hops, chamomile and passionflower, are a popular coping strategy, while many players have turned to melatonin as a sleep aid.
But taking a hormone produced by your brain in response to darkness can help you sleep, but taking it has caused serious consequences for some leading athletes.
Six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek was suspended for a month in 2024 after failing a doping test because the melatonin she took to avoid jet lag was contaminated.
In 2023, then-world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece blamed his tablet for a poor performance in his French Open quarter-final loss to Carlos Alcaraz.
