\n<\/p>\n
Tennis stars travel globally more than any other group of athletes due to the international nature of the sport.<\/p>\n
With tour-level tournaments held in 29 countries across five continents, men’s players travelled a combined 2.3 million km across the 2024 season, according to ATP data.<\/p>\n
Every player knows the importance of getting over jetlag quickly and has their own method of attempting to regulate their circadian rhythm.<\/p>\n
Novak Djokovic, known for meticulously fine-tuning his body, tries to “over-hydrate” on his flight, adding lemon, mint, and salt to his water. <\/p>\n
“When I arrive at the hotel, I ground myself with bare feet on natural ground as soon as possible, followed by a hot bath with Epsom salts,” the 24-time major champion told Travel + Leisure magazine, external<\/span><\/a>. <\/p>\n “Then on the first morning, I try to watch the sunrise, to reset my brain.”<\/p>\n Natural herbal tablets, often containing plant-based ingredients like valerian, hops, chamomile and passionflower are a popular coping strategy, while many players have turned to melatonin as a sleep aid.<\/p>\n Taking the hormone, which your brain produces in response to darkness and therefore helps you sleep, has led to serious repercussions for some leading players, though.<\/p>\n Six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek was banned for one month in 2024 after failing a doping test<\/a> because the melatonin she took to avoid jetlag was contaminated.<\/p>\n In 2023, Greece’s then-world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas blamed the tablets for a sluggish performance in his French Open quarter-final thrashing by Carlos Alcaraz.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n