--- description: Some athletes celebrate a major victory by drinking champagne. Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, celebrates by eating grass. title: Novak Djokovic Ate Grass to Celebrate His Wimbledon Win image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5c84574f931c99f/6989fff4929fad2859bf499b/novakwimbledon2019grass.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Resourceful Novak Djokovic Snacks on Grass to Celebrate His Wimbledon Win Because Champions Need Fuel  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jul 15, 2019 4:21 PM CUT  Grand Slam/ATP Tour, Wimbledon, Individual, Men, Final, Djokovic (Serbia) - Federer (Switzerland). Novak Djokovic squats on the grass after the match. Photo: Frank Molter/dpa (Photo by Frank Molter/picture alliance via Getty Images) Grand Slam/ATP Tour, Wimbledon, Individual, Men, Final, Djokovic (Serbia) - Federer (Switzerland). Novak Djokovic squats on the grass after the match. Photo: Frank Molter/dpa (Photo by Frank Molter/picture alliance via Getty Images)picture alliance& via Getty Image  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jul 15, 2019 4:21 PM CUT Some athletes celebrate a major victory by [drinking champagne](https://time.com/5621965/alex-morgan-locker-room-celebration/ "undefined"). [Novak Djokovic](https://time.com/5626201/novak-djokovic-wins-wimbledon/ "undefined"), on the other hand, celebrates by eating grass. After Djokovic defeated [Roger Federer](https://time.com/money/5391450/roger-federer-total-prize-money-earned/ "undefined") in an unprecedented fifth-set tiebreaker to win Wimbledon 2019 on Sunday, the tennis superstar leaned down and plucked a few strands of grass out of the court before popping them in his mouth. Considering Djokovic has won [Wimbledon](https://time.com/5616089/royals-at-wimbledon/ "undefined") five times in the past 8 years, paying tribute to the grass court that has played a crucial role in nearly half of his 16 Grand Slam victories seems like the right move. Of course, this isn’t the first time that Djokovic has snacked on the Wimbledon court. He’s been doing it since he first won the tournament in 2011. “It’s a little tradition obviously,” he told the [BBC](https://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/07/why-does-novak-djokovic-eat-the-wimbledon-grass "undefined") in 2018\. “As a kid I was dreaming of winning Wimbledon, so, like every child, you dream of doing something crazy when you actually achieve it — if you achieve it — and that was one of the things.” Watch the video below. > [](https://twitter.com/TonyLiebert/status/1150469253587439617) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5626559/novak-djokovic-eating-grass/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5626559/novak-djokovic-eating-grass/"},"headline":"Resourceful Novak Djokovic Snacks on Grass to Celebrate His Wimbledon Win Because Champions Need Fuel","datePublished":"2019-07-15T16:21:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:59:31.222Z","description":"\"It's a little tradition obviously\"","url":"https://time.com/5626559/novak-djokovic-eating-grass/","keywords":["Newsfeed","tennis","Novak Djokovic","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5c84574f931c99f/6989fff4929fad2859bf499b/novakwimbledon2019grass.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5c84574f931c99f/6989fff4929fad2859bf499b/novakwimbledon2019grass.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Wimbledon 2019","caption":"Novak at Wimbledon 2019","creditText":"picture alliance& via Getty Image","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5626559/novak-djokovic-eating-grass/","name":"Resourceful Novak Djokovic Snacks on Grass to Celebrate His Wimbledon Win Because Champions Need Fuel"}}]}] ```