Forty-five minutes before he steps onto the court, Rafael Nadal must take a frigid shower. "It’s the point before the point of no return," he says. “Under the cold shower, I enter a new space in which I feel my power and resilience grow."
He places his water bottles in front of the chair to his left on the sidelines, neatly in front of each other with the labels facing the same way, diagonally aimed at the court. He won’t step on any of the straight white lines that frame the doubles alley, nor anywhere else on the court. Before serving, he tugs at his shirt, brushes his hair back and wipes his face. Only then can he thwack the ball toward his opponent.
