Novak Djokovic wears bizarre gloves during Miami Open win as Serb goes to extreme lengths

Novak Djokovic wore cooling gloves during his victory over Sebastian Korda

Novak Djokovic was spotted wearing an unusual pair of gloves between games during his Miami Open victory over Sebastian Korda. The veteran Serb was made to work hard for the win but found an extra gear to record a 6-3 7-6 triumph and book his place in the semi-finals, where he will face Grigor Dimitrov. Djokovic made a flying start to proceedings, turning the screw in the opening set to draw first blood. He began to toil early in the second, though, with Korda securing an early break. The underdog was 5-2 up at one stage but Djokovic somehow battled back to force a tiebreak, which he won to ensure a straight-sets victory.

The veteran Serb battled back from 5-2 down in the second set to claim victory

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His impressive revival seemed to coincide with the adoption of a bizarre tactic during breaks in play. Djokovic was seen wearing large blue gloves, which he rubbed on his neck and face while sitting in his chair, and started to play better almost immediately. It later transpired that Djokovic was cooling himself down with ice packs, which had been placed inside the gloves. Sky Sports pundit Martina Navratilova was impressed with the 37-year-old thinking outside the box to cope with the difficult conditions. "They've had this years ago, it can lower your body temperature in like 30 seconds," said Navratilova. "It cools down the blood supply. I don't know why more people haven't been using them. "Novak is ahead of everybody when it comes to technology. It's magic and I don't know why tournaments don't have them for all the players."

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