How a diet change boosted Pospisil's career

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla.—Everyone knows that eating healthy is important, but everyone also knows that it can be hard to do. So don’t feel bad if you’re biting into a slice of pizza right now—even the world’s greatest athletes struggle with healthy eating. Vasek Pospisil, currently the 44th-best tennis player in the ATP, once had to learn how to cut the fat.

In 2013, Pospisil began working with a new coach, Frederic Fontang, who was helping him embrace more professional routines. Pospisil was already an experienced player, ranked just outside the Top 100 at 23 years old, but he needed to refine his preparation if he wanted to push higher in the rankings. One of his goals was getting fitter, so fixing his self-admittedly poor eating habits was imperative.

“I started eating well. I was eating pretty badly before,” Pospisil said. “It was pretty simple stuff; just make good choices.”

The 6’4” British Columbia native is known for being a passionate lover of Chipotle:

Changes included cutting out fatty foods like pizza and burgers, as well as anything deep-fried. Pospisil also committed to drinking water and coconut water, and eliminating soda. It’s no secret that huge amounts of sugar hide in sodas, juices and energy drinks.

At one point, he really embraced the coconut water:

After he began making dietary changes and committed Fontang’s training, Pospisil was diagnosed with mononucleosis after weeks of symptoms. It’s a bit of an epidemic in tennis; the same condition has stricken Roger Federer, Christina McHale, John Isner and Petra Kvitova in recent years, and the illness pushed Mario Ancic into early retirement.

“I actually got mono at the beginning of 2013, which forced me to eat well,” Pospisil said. “I pretty much was making the change at the time anyways, but I lost weight there and I was eating extremely well.”

Pospisil hasn’t looked back, rising to No. 32 by year’s end after starting 2013 outside the Top 100. In 2014 he won the Wimbledon doubles crown with Jack Sock. Last year, he reached the singles quarterfinals of Wimbledon, which led to a career-high ranking of No. 25.

In becoming healthier, leaner and fitter, Pospisil has bulked up in two areas: his ranking, and his bank account.