“But watching more closely it soon became apparent Nadal’s obsessive compulsive bum groping actually formed part of a pre-serve routine that went something like this: drag foot along service line; straighten socks; tap left shoe with racquet; tap right shoe with racquet; grab bum; serve. The routine suggested his underpants weren’t uncomfortable at all – it was just a Spanish good luck tradition, like eating grapes at New Year’s, which fits nicely with his water bottle compulsion.
For those who don’t know: when Nadal plays he has two drink bottles in front of his chair, courtside. When he takes a sip from either between games, he spends an inordinate amount of time making sure he puts the bottle back on precisely the same spot. Then he makes sure both labels are facing his end of the court. Totally normal, right? Completely.
The funniest part about all this is that when asked about his strange habits during a press conference at the weekend, Nadal insisted (after tapping both shoes, straightening his socks, rotating his water bottles and grabbing his bum) that he wasn’t at all superstitious. “I always go to the same hotel, but that’s it.”
Really? So, what’s he telling us? His underpants are just uncomfortable after all? Believe it or not, someone actually brought it up at a press conference and Nadal reckon’s he constantly adjusting downstairs because his posterior is “a little bigger than usual”.
Well I’m sure some of our female members would be happy to run him up a pair of custom made shorts after a few fittings. After all a superior posterior deserves the best!
By Julia, TBW founder
PS Thanks for your patience with the new site. We know there are still problems and we are ironing them out.
