Novak Djokovic has raised eyebrows at this year’s Grand Slams by revealing a mysterious metal disc strapped to his chest.
The tennis star had the coin-like device taped between his pectorals at the French Open and Wimbledon, and could wear it again when the US Open starts on Monday.
His first opponent is Alexandre Muller, as the Serb aims for a record-extending 24th Grand Slam men’s singles title.
The world number two sees the chest gadget as key to his success – so what is it?
‘Biggest secret of my career’
Djokovic was asked about the disc after his second round French Open win over Marton Fucsovics in May, after it caught the attention of bemused commentators and viewers.
“When I was a kid I liked Iron Man a lot,” he said, noting its resemblance to part of the Marvel superhero’s suit.
“So I try to impersonate Iron Man.”
Iron Man’s similarly-shaped chest device powers his robotic outfit, and is designed to prevent bullet shrapnel in his body from reaching his heart.
Advertisement
For Djokovic, no such problems. Instead, he said it’s all about enhancing his performance on the court.
“My team delivers incredibly efficient nanotechnology to help me deliver my best,” he said.
“That’s probably the biggest secret of my career. If it wasn’t for that, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here.”
Image: Novak Djokovic wore the device at Wimbledon this year
What kind of ‘nanotechnology’ is this?
Following Djokovic’s comments, an Italian company called Tao Technologies said it was behind the device.
Described as a “human upgrade device”, the patented Taopatch is designed to improve health and wellbeing.
It claims the patch, which “uses two layers of nanocrystals that convert heat from your body into light”, sends therapeutic signals to the wearer’s nervous system to help their body achieve true balance.
Improved sleep, posture, balance, flexibility, recovery times, and focus, alongside reductions in stress, anxiety, and chronic pain, are among the benefits it purportedly provides.
The firm even claims the patch – which starts at £238 – has helped patients with multiple sclerosis.
Fabio Fontana, inventor of Taopatch and CEO of Tao Technologies, told Sky News he was inspired to invest in the product after becoming dependent on painkillers after a car accident.
“All the therapies I tried only provided temporary results,” he said.
“A doctor in Rome was the first to give me results with laser treatments. The benefits were significant in relieving the tension in the muscles of my neck and back, but its effectiveness lasted only a week.
“I wondered if it would be possible to create a kind of wearable laser to prolong the effect of the treatment.”
The nanocrystals, he said, simulate the effect of the laser treatments he received – and that the patch is simply “a different way of administering light therapy”.
Image: The Serb says the patch helps him perform on the court
Are the claimed benefits legitimate?
Tao says its patch is an approved medical device, according to EU regulations, however is yet to be approved by America’s drugs regulator.
The firm cites studies into its effectiveness on its website. One Italian study in 2021 concluded it improved balance, movement, and affected limbs of multiple sclerosis patients, while another that looked into its impact on athletic performance said it had improved participants’ grip and squat strength.
Mr Fontana also pointed to studies into the benefits of light therapy, and said the patch was available to all research institutions that wanted to conduct clinical trials.
But Tao’s claims have failed to move some experts.
In an article for Science-Based Medicine, Dr Harriet Hall said the company’s explanation “is not credible”.
Dr Brandon Beaber, a neurologist, has said studies may suggest a “little bit of benefit” anecdotally, but they remained unproven so far as multiple sclerosis treatment.
And Professor Edzard Ernst, of the University of Exeter, told Sky News none of the company’s claims seemed “supported by sound evidence”.
“The notion that it generates any benefit is bogus,” he said.
“The principles put forward fly in the face of science.”
Prof Ernst said any benefit gained by Djokovic would “entirely depend on a placebo response”.
Image: Djokovic during the Wimbledon men’s singles final
Given Djokovic has not been banned from using the patch, tennis authorities also appear unconvinced it provides tangible advantages.
The ATP Tour and International Tennis Federation have not commented on its use – and you could be forgiven for having doubts given Djokovic’s previous health positions.
The 36-year-old famously refused to take a COVID vaccine, and missed several tournaments as a result due to international travel restrictions.
He’s also previously suggested he believes some people have telepathic powers, gave up gluten after claiming proximity to a piece of white bread made his body feel weaker, and said having an operation on his elbow in 2018 caused him to feel “like I had failed myself”.
As for the “biggest secret” of his career, it’s now out in the open.
Whether it makes any difference or not, he’ll no doubt be among the main contenders at the US Open between now and the tournament’s end on 10 September.
The 2023 US Open starts on Monday 28 August, live on Sky Sports.
Donald Trump has announced he will impose a 30% tariff on imports from the European Union from 1 August.
The tariffs could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the US.
Mr Trump has also imposed a 30% tariff on goods from Mexico, according to a post from his Truth Social account.
Announcing the moves in separate letters on the account, the president said the US trade deficit was a national security threat.
In his letter to the EU, he wrote: “We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, trade Deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-Tariff, policies, and trade barriers.
“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal.”
In his letter to Mexico, Mr Trump said he did not think the country had done enough to stop the US from turning into a “narco-trafficking playground”.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said today that the EU could adopt “proportionate countermeasures” if the US proceeds with imposing the 30% tariff.
Ms von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement that the bloc remained ready “to continue working towards an agreement by Aug 1”.
“Few economies in the world match the European Union’s level of openness and adherence to fair trading practices,” she continued.
“We will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”
Ms von der Leyen has also said imposing tariffs on EU exports would “disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains”.
Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on the X social media platform that Mr Trump’s announcement was “very concerning and not the way forward”.
He added: “The European Commission can count on our full support. As the EU we must remain united and resolute in pursuing an outcome with the United States that is mutually beneficial.”
Mexico’s economy ministry said a bilateral working group aims to reach an alternative to the 30% US tariffs before they are due to take effect.
The country was informed by the US that it would receive a letter about the tariffs, the ministry’s statement said, adding that Mexico was negotiating.
The US imposed a 20% tariff on imported goods from the EU in April but it was later paused and the bloc has since been paying a baseline tariff of 10% on goods it exports to the US.
In May, while the US and EU where holding trade negotiations, Mr Trump threated to impose a 50% tariff on the bloc as talks didn’t progress as he would have liked.
However, he later announced he was delaying the imposition of that tariff while negotiations over a trade deal took place.
As of earlier this week, the EU’s executive commission, which handles trade issues for the bloc’s 27-member nations, said its leaders were still hoping to strike a trade deal with the Trump administration.
Without one, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.
At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.
The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.
Image: Ten children were reportedly killed when Israel attacked near a clinic on Thursday. Pic: AP
The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.
Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.
Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.
“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.
The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.
It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:01
US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.
The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
Follow The World
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.
A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.
The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.
The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:01
US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
Follow The World
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.