WIMBLEDON, England — The Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt can complete a 200 meters in the time it takes the Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal to start some of his points.
Nadal will often take 20 seconds or more to deliver his first serves, owing to a ritual that includes bouncing the ball a few times, tugging at his shorts, pinching the fabric on his left shoulder, then his right shoulder, bouncing the ball, swiping at his nose, his left ear, his nose, then his right ear, tucking his hair behind his left ear, then his right ear, and bouncing the ball a few more times.