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Today’s New York Times has a fun story on odd ticks players have between points, for example, Rafa’s butt picking and Djokovic’s ball bouncing. I don’t have time for either of those–I’m usually too busy praying for God to get me out of the mess I’ve gotten myself into in each game!

Djokovic typically starts by bouncing the ball on the ground with his racket before shifting the ball to his left hand, leaning forward and continuing his routine by bouncing the ball 8, 9, 10, sometimes 25 more times before tossing it into the air, arching his back and slamming an often marvelous serve…. Nadal has more elaborate behaviors that have nothing to do with his wicked left-handed hooking forehand. There will be kangaroo jumps in the locker room, ultra-precise drink bottle positioning on changeovers, obsessive toweling off between points and equally obsessive wiping of the lines between points with a sneaker sole, even when those lines are already clean. Above all, there is his backward grab at the seat of his tennis shorts.

Click here for the article.