Djokovic's run against the grain

HOLD THE BACK PAGE:NOVAK DJOKOVIC'S remarkable start to a season in which he has won 39 straight singles matches on the tennis court, has seen him amass €3,740,500 in prize money.

The 23-year-old Serbian from Belgrade produced stunning tennis and demonstrated conspicuous stamina in the semi-final to see off Andy Murray and then beat Rafael Nadal for the fourth straight time in the final to win the Rome Masters on Sunday.

It was his seventh tournament victory in succession, a phenomenal achievement, yet his tally of consecutive wins is dwarfed by that of Bill Tilden (95) and Don Budge (92) from tennis' pre-Open (1968) epoch, never mind the remarkable sequences of victories enjoyed by Helen Wills Moody (158) and French tennis heroine Suzanne Lenglen (153).

Argentine left-hander Guillermo Villas managed a brilliant 46 wins in the professional era and it is a mark that has lasted nearly 34 years. To join Villas on that figure Djokovic will have to win his next tournament, the French Open at Roland Garros: he would also be half way to a Grand Slam having won the Australian Open.

It's obviously a ridiculously tough remit for the Serbian especially when considering Nadal has won five of the last six French Opens. Whatever Djokovic manages at Roland Garros, he has transformed from the injury-prone, mercurial incarnation of previous years. Part of that metamorphosis, at least physically, was his recent diagnosis as a coeliac.

It is a relatively common condition – it affects one in a hundred Irish people but is undiagnosed in many cases – where a sufferer displays intolerance to the gluten found in many grains. Djokovic hailed the work of his nutritionist, Igor Cetojevic. "He's done a great job in changing my diet after we established I am allergic to some food ingredients, like gluten. It means I can't eat stuff like pizza, pasta and bread. I have lost some weight but it's only helped me because my movement is much sharper now and I feel great physically."

There is no cure or treatment for the disease. A change in diet is the only help. In speaking publicly about the condition, Djokovic has become the world's most famous sporting coeliac, and living proof that sufferers can not only lead relatively normal lives but can excel.

Coeliacs experience an auto-immune response to gluten, a protein in many grains, which irritates the small intestine; it runs in families. Dietary requirements demand ordinary pasta, bread, cereals, biscuits, cakes, pizza, and a huge range of other foods, including fish fingers, sausages, gravies, sauces and soy sauce can not be taken.

Beer – typically made from barley – and grain-based spirits are also out of bounds. Specialist manufacturers use potato, corn or other flours to make gluten-free bread, pasta and biscuits, which are palatable for coeliacs.

Now there is nothing to say a diagnosis will turn a sufferer into a tennis phenomenon but it will make them happier and healthier. Just ask Novak.

Elson set to return to action

ROCKY ELSOM is expected to return to competitive action this morning (11.05am, Irish time) following a long-term hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined since last November.

The Australia captain’s reappearance is timely for a Brumbies team – that travels to Perth to play Western Force – that languishes third from bottom in the Super 15.

It’s apposite Elsom is back in action on the same day that former team-mates in another hemisphere hope to land a second Heineken Cup. The Australian was a mainstay of Leinster’s European success in 2009 when they beat the Leicester Tigers at Murrayfield.

A hugely popular figure during his time in Ireland, he may be tempted to stay up until the small hours to follow the Irish province’s progress as they take on the Northampton Saints at the Millennium stadium later this evening.

Interestingly Elsom has yet to negotiate a contract for 2012 but indicated that the first step would be to conduct talks with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU).

He explained: “Going to your province first is not the most efficient way I would say. I have to sort the deal out with the ARU and then I will go from there.”

The 28-year-old confirmed that he not met the Brumbies’ new coach Jake White yet, who arrived in Canberra last Monday. White, who led the Springboks to World Cup victory in 2007, signed a four-year contract with the Brumbies and takes over at the end of the season.

It is anticipated that he will make several changes to the coaching staff in an effort to make the Brumbies a competitive force in 2012: the reshuffle will incorporate names familiar to Irish rugby fans.

One of the current forwards coaches is ex Ulster and Wallaby secondrow Justin Harrison but his services are no longer required, along with those of Marco Caputo in the new regime.

The Australian newspapers are suggesting former Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher, who leaves Munster at the end of the season will return as the new forwards coach.

Wallabies conditioning coach Dean Benton is also expected to be appointed while Stephen Larkham will be retained as backs’ coach.

Who is 'Mr Irrelevant'?

IT APPEARS a sportsperson dropping a trophy from a bus is commonplace on the evidence of recent events, specifically pertaining to soccer players and celebrations.

Ajax goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg will be hoping Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson does not peruse YouTube where there is footage of the Dutch international letting the Eredivisie league trophy slip from his grasp to the tarmac.

Stekelenburg, is being hailed as a potential successor to countryman and United goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar, who will retire after the Champions League final against Barcelona at Wembley. It follows on from Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos suffering a similar open-top bus faux pas with the Copa del Rey.

Dropping a trophy is one thing but there is other silverware a sportsperson might prefer not to handle at all. Consider the case of the player who is picked last in the NFL (American Football) draft that offers a select number of college boys a professional gridiron career. He is dubbed “Mr Irrelevant”, and awarded the Lowsman Trophy, a statue of a player fumbling a ball. It is based on the Heisman Trophy given to the best player every year in college football.

The Lowsman is presented at a ceremony a week after the draft finishes.

First inaugurated in 1976, it was the brainchild of former NFL player Paul Salata. The first Mr Irrelevant, Kelvin Kirk was selected 487th overall out of the University of Dayton.

A notable Lowsman winner was the 2009 recipient Kansas City Chiefs place-kicker Ryan Succop, who belied his draft status to make a high-profile impression on his accession to the NFL ranks.

Marty Moore (New England Patriots) was the first Mr Irrelevant to play in a Super Bowl while Jim Finn was part of the 2008 Super Bowl winning New York Giants.

Tuilagi's five-week ban tarnishes English union's reputation

The Final Straw:THE English RFU deserves to be lambasted for the five-week ban handed down to Manu Tuilagi for an incident in last week's Aviva Premiership semi-final between the Leicester Tigers and the Northampton Saints.

The 20-year-old Tigers' centre Tuilagi struck Chris Ashton with three hefty and unanswered punches causing injury, a flurry that was caught by the television cameras.

Tuilagi's reaction was completely out of context, reacting to the mildest provocation, a shove from Ashton.

The RFU's reputation in terms of their disciplinary process has been tarnished not alone by the risible ban but by the reasoning behind it. The English union's disciplinary chief Judge Jeff Blackett pointed out: "This was a top-end entry offence because there were three punches, the third of which was extremely forceful and caused significant injury. This sort of incident is very damaging to the image of the game and there is no place for this type of offending on the rugby pitch.

"Had it occurred in the high street an offender would have been prosecuted in the criminal courts."

Fair enough but then mitigating factors kicked in which reduced the original 10-week ban to five. Blackett felt that age, inexperience, an admission of guilt (he could hardly deny it given the footage) and genuine remorse were sufficient to halve the suspension.

Rugby prides itself on the zeal with which it pursues and punishes offenders, a statement that rings very hollow following this judgment.

Howell plans to play safe leads to danger

WHAT links jogging, tennis, yoga, moving a washing machine and frisbee? The answer is that they have been the source of injury for golfer David Howell, causing him to miss at a minimum a couple of weeks on the European Tour.

As he revealed in his column for Golf Monthly, a magazine that is currently celebrating a centenary: “I learned my lesson years ago of how hard concrete is when I broke my arm jogging (after) tripping over my laces. Sand is much softer and safer to play on or so I thought. One short throw (of a frisbee) that hung up in the wind was my downfall. I lurched forward only to come up agonisingly short while jarring my ankle.”

Howell goes on to recount how the upshot was a week icing his ankle, followed by a trip to China for a tournament during which he spent an unhealthy amount of time in a hotel room icing the damaged joint.

Three days later he was on a plane heading back to London and spent the Bank holiday weekend sitting on the sofa with a cold compress. Given the nature and frequency of his mishaps it is probably fair to label him as accident prone.