On the final point of last night’s almost-classic U.S. Open men’s final, Rafael Nadal waited to unleash his serve. He was leading 5-1 in the fourth set, after winning the first and third, and up 40-15, so the possibility of losing the match was all but gone. Flashbulbs were going off and there were screams from all sections of the stadium, and if he were Novak Djokovic, Nadal’s opponent, one might be tempted to think that he was simply relishing the moment, taking it all in. But Rafael Nadal does not enjoy himself while playing tennis. This was simply a laboratory researcher waiting for his experiment’s proper conditions; the results wouldn’t be any good if there were too many variables in play.
Tennis fans like to analyze pre-serve routines for signs of character—it’s the only moment when the modern game slows enough to get a good look. This often represents a misguided hope. But with Nadal, now the owner of thirteen Grand Slam titles, the interpoint auguries are actually instructive: Nadal wants to play tennis in a vacuum, and does his best to create one. Between games, he places two water bottles—one slightly colder than the other—in a precise arrangement, labels facing toward the side of the court to which he is heading next. Unlike other men in professional tennis, he brings two towels with him to the back of the court, for more efficient access. “Two times! Two times!” Nadal yelled at the chair umpire last night, after a man in the crowd had yelled twice during a point. When the game ended, Nadal’s coach and svengali, Uncle Toni, got up from Nadal’s box, walked over to another section of the court, and directed security toward the offending shouter, who had made his charge’s environment slightly uncomfortabl
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