Call them superstitions, call them habits, call them rituals… some players are well known for having certain formalities and ceremonies that must be performed at each game. Whether it’s a lucky pair of shorts, a certain route you take to get to the court, or a culinary habit, there’s no shortage of strange rituals adopted by those who play tennis professionally.

One such pro, and a former great at that, is Croatian Goran Ivanisevic, who is famous for being a huge fan of the food routine. During his time in Australia at the Hopman Cup, he reportedly ate at the same table in the same restaurant every night and ordered the same meal of chowder, lamb and ice cream with chocolate sauce throughout the tournament. Ivanisevic has a number of similar superstitions and practices, such as always getting up from his courtside chair after his opponent, asking for the same ball again after he’s hit an ace, and always avoiding stepping or standing on the tram tracks (a superstition shared by Martina Hingis and American legend John McEnroe).

Another common superstition shared by various players is that of keeping the same clothes or wearing clothes in exactly the same way. Serena Williams, for example, ties her shoes the same way before every game, she prefers the same shower before every game in a tournament, and she also wears the same pair of socks to every game. Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, refuses to use the same shower twice in a row. However, he insists on having his poodle, Pierre, with him in London when he competes at Wimbledon.

Djokovic isn’t the only contemporary great to indulge in a superstition or two; our own Andy Murray raised eyebrows at Wimbledon last year when he stormed into the quarterfinals looking clearly hairier than usual. Despite his insistence that he was just being lazy, many experts speculated that his growing beard was due to some superstition on the court. Meanwhile, Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal is very particular when it comes to placing his water bottle on court, making sure that he is always in the exact same place or position at the end of each session, down to the millimeter. These guys are some of the most successful players in the sport, so it seems like they’re onto something about their seemingly bizarre superstitions – it might be worth thinking about a ‘lucky’ pair of shorts in an attempt to improve your own! match!