Novak Djokovic: The ‘Iron Man’ device tennis star may wear at US Open – and what experts make of it
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.
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.”
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”.
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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”.
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.
The man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher has been charged with sexual assault against an ex-girlfriend.
Rudy Guede, 38, was the only person who was definitively convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Ms Kercher in Perugia, Italy, back in 2007.
He will be standing trial again in November after an ex-girlfriend filed a police report in the summer of 2023 accusing Guede of mistreatment, personal injury and sexual violence.
Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was released from prison for the murder of Leeds University student Ms Kercher in 2021, after having served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence.
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Since last year – when this investigation was still ongoing – Guede has been under a “special surveillance” regime, Sky News understands, meaning he was banned from having any contact with the woman behind the sexual assault allegations, including via social media, and had to inform police any time he left his city of residence, Viterbo, as ruled by a Rome court.
Guede has been serving a restraining order and fitted with an electronic ankle tag.
The Kercher murder case, in the university city of Perugia, was the subject of international attention.
Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found murdered in the flat she shared with her American roommate, Amanda Knox.
The Briton’s throat had been cut and she had been stabbed 47 times.
(L-R) Raffaele Sollecito, Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox. File pic: AP
Ms Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were placed under suspicion.
Both were initially convicted of murder, but Italy’s highest court overturned their convictions, acquitting them in 2015.
World
IDF blames ‘technical error’ after Gaza officials say children collecting water killed in strike
The Israeli military says it missed its intended target after Gaza officials said 10 Palestinians – including six children – were killed in a strike at a water collection point.
Another 17 people were wounded in the strike on a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al Awda Hospital.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant but a “technical error with the munition” had caused the missile to fall “dozens of metres from the target”.
The IDF said the incident is under review, adding that it “works to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians as much as possible” and “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”.
A wounded child is treated after the strike on the water collection point. Pic: Reuters
Officials at Al Awda Hospital said it received 10 bodies after the Israeli strike on the water collection point and six children were among the dead.
Ramadan Nassar, who lives in the area, said around 20 children and 14 adults were lined up Sunday morning to fill up water.
When the strike occurred, everyone ran and some, including those who were severely injured, fell to the ground, he said.
Blood stains are seen on containers at the water collection point. Pic: Reuters
In total, 19 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health officials said.
Two women and three children were among nine killed after an Israeli strike on a home in the central town of Zawaida, officials at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.
Israel has claimed it hit more than 150 targets in the besieged enclave in the past day.
The latest strikes come after the Israel military opened fire near an aid centre in Rafah on Saturday. The Red Cross said 31 people were killed.
The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.
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Palestinians shot while seeking aid, says paramedic
The war in Gaza started in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage.
More than 58,000 Palestinians have since been killed, with more than half being women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
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US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.
But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough, as a new sticking point emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce.
Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
World
‘At least 59 killed’ in Gaza after Israeli military opens fire near aid centre and carries out strikes
At least 59 Palestinians have reportedly been killed after the Israeli military opened fire near an aid centre in Gaza and carried out strikes across the territory.
The Red Cross, which operates a field hospital in Rafah, said 25 people were “declared dead upon arrival” and “six more died after admittance” following gunfire near an aid distribution centre in the southern Gazan city.
The humanitarian organisation added that it also received 132 patients “suffering from weapon-related injuries” after the incident.
The Red Cross said: “The overwhelming majority of these patients sustained gunshot wounds, and all responsive individuals reported they were attempting to access food distribution sites.”
The organisation said the number of deaths marks the hospital’s “largest influx of fatalities” since it began operations in May last year.
The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.
It said in a statement: “Earlier today, several suspects were identified approaching IDF troops operating in the Rafah area, posing a threat to the troops, hundreds of metres from the aid distribution site.
“IDF troops operated in order to prevent the suspects from approaching them and fired warning shots.”
Palestinians mourn a loved one following the incident near the aid centre. Pic: Reuters
Mother’s despair over shooting
Somia Alshaar told Sky News her 17-year-old son Nasir was shot dead while visiting the aid centre after she told him not to go.
She said: “He went to get us tahini so we could eat.
“He went to get flour. He told me ‘mama, we don’t have tahini. Today I’ll bring you flour. Even if it kills me, I will get you flour’.
“He left the house and didn’t return. They told me at the hospital: your son…’Oh God, oh Lord’.”
Asked where her son was shot, she replied: “In the chest. Yes, in the chest.”
Somia Alshaar, pictured with her daughter, says her son was shot dead. Pic: Reuters
‘A policy of mass murder’
Hassan Omran, a paramedic with Gaza’s ministry of health, told Sky News after the incident that humanitarian aid centres in Gaza are now “centres of mass death”.
Speaking in Khan Younis, he said: “Today, there were more than 150 injuries and more than 20 martyrs at the aid distribution centres… the Israeli occupation deliberately kills and commits genocide. The Israeli occupation is carrying out a policy of mass murder.
“They call people to come get their daily food, and then, when citizens arrive at these centres, they are killed in cold blood.
“All the victims have gunshot wounds to the head and chest, meaning the enemy is committing these crimes deliberately.”
Israel has rejected genocide accusations and denies targeting civilians.
Two boys mourn their brother at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters
‘Lies being peddled’
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial US and Israeli-backed group which operates the distribution centre near Rafah, said: “Hamas is claiming there was violence at our aid distribution sites today. False.
“Once again, there were no incidents at or in the immediate vicinity of our sites.
“But that’s not stopping some from spreading the lies being peddled by ‘officials’ at the Hamas-controlled Nasser Hospital.”
The Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah has recorded more than 250 fatalities and treated more than 3,400 “weapon-wounded patients” since new food distribution sites were set up in Gaza on 27 May.
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’10 children killed’ waiting for Gaza health clinic to open
Israel says permanent ceasefire ‘questionable’
Palestinians inspect the wreckage after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah. Pic: AP
It comes after four children and two women were among at least 13 people who died in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli strikes pounded the area starting late on Friday, officials in Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the territory said.
Fifteen others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not responded to a request for comment on the reported deaths.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Israeli has been carrying out attacks in Gaza since Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages on 7 October 2023.
Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.
But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The latest fatalities in Gaza comes as a 20-year-old Palestinian-American man was beaten to death by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health ministry said.
Sayafollah Musallet, also known as Saif, was killed during a confrontation between Palestinians and settlers in Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the ministry said.
A second man, Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, died after being shot in the chest.
Mr Musallet’s family, from Tampa Florida, has called on the US State Department to lead an “immediate investigation”.
A State Department spokesperson said it was aware of the incident but it had no further comment “out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones” of the reported victim.
The Israeli military said the confrontation broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, lightly injuring them.
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