What's your service routine? Or the past top greats' service routines you remember.

Lots of people have complained about Nadal's and Djoko's lengthy service routines. But I assert, this is nothing new under the sun. Oh, not one bit!

I think who really milked it first was the aging Connors. He'd really have a routine: get the towel off, bounce the balls like an endless pitter pat, go into that sandman hurl, then go into that agony grunt. Isn't that what Djoko and Nadal are doing?

Don't forget Mac's routine: walk along the baseline sideways, dry the side of his temple with the shoulder sleeves, left and right, then measure his seesaw and bring both hands together, look over furtively and hunch over like a pitcher, then like pendulum rising, unfold like a tripod/ wall scaler. 

Lendl's routine: sawdust his handle, pluck his eyelashes, scowl across the net, flex his wrist on his handle, peer into the heighty heights, then throw his super high toss.

Or Sampras: wipe his forehead with his thumbs, check his bear hug windup, stick his tongue as he's looking over DURING the toss, then launch like a cartwheeling volleyball player.

Or Becker: bounce the ball on his strings like he's walking a dog, check his posture out with the butt sticking out, bouncing balls while doing it, then checking coughing or gawking/clucking his jaw sideways, rocking from heel to toe over and over until he finally unfolds his tight, inside out bear hug delivery, then squat upwards like a volleyball spiker!