The $30 gloves used by Novak Djokovic during Miami Open win called 'magic' by Martina Navratilova

Former world number one Martina Navratilova explains why Serbia’s Novak Djokovic wore gloves during the break between games at the Miami Open. The 37-year-old, who is regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles, cemented his spot in the semifinal of the ongoing ATP 1000 event after beating America’s Sebastian Korda in the quarterfinal in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-6.

During the match, Djokovic was seen wearing blue gloves during a break between games. Former world number one Navratilova, while speaking to Sky Sports after the match, explained the reason behind the 24-time Grand Slam winner wearing those gloves. The 68-year-old reveals that gloves works like ‘magic’ and ‘cools down blood’ in as little as 30 seconds. She also expressed surprise that more players don’t use similar gloves despite the fact that the technology has been available for ‘decades’.

“So they have had this technology years ago,” she said while referring to gloves. “They [gloves] can lower your body temperature in 30 seconds. It cools down the blood supply and I don’t know why more people haven’t been using it because the technology has been there for decades. But of course Novak is way ahead of everybody when it comes to technology. It’s magic and I don’t know why the tournaments don’t really have it for all the players.”

Interestingly, those gloves are not expensive either, and they are available for less than $30 on Amazon. Djokovic will now face Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinal of the competition on Friday. The 33-year-old cemented his spot in the last-four after beating Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in the quarterfinal with a score of 6-7, 6-4, 7-6. This will be the 14th meeting between the two players. In the last 13 encounters, Djokovic had a clear advantage, as he emerged victorious on 12 occasions.