There's a very small amount of time you can save/lose in the World Tournament based on what character you choose to play as and what character you face. Here's the length of each name spoken by the Tournament announcer in seconds.

There are also characters that take longer to load than others on certain consoles. For PS2 I've confirmed that Frieza is the absolute slowest to load in - and Goku and Vegeta are slow as well.

English Version

Goku Vs - 1.88 : Goku - 1.64

Gohan Vs - 2.07 : Gohan 1.69

Vegeta Vs. - 1.84 : Vegeta 1.2

Krillin Vs 1.79 : Krillin 1.58

Trunks vs. - 1.84 : Trunks 1.58

Piccolo Vs 1.7 : Piccolo 1.5

Tien Vs. 2.08 : Tien 1.6

Yamcha Vs. 1.79 : Yamcha 2.22

Raditz Vs. 1.84 : Raditz 1.63

Nappa Vs. 1.78 : Nappa 1.67

Ginyu Vs. 1.78 : Ginyu 1.6

Reccoome Vs 1.88 : Reccoome 1.72

Zarbon Vs. 1.9 : Zarbon 1.72

Dodoria Vs. 1.93 : Dodoria 1.71

Frieza Vs. 1.87 : Frieza 1.70

Android 16 Vs. 2.81 : Android 16 2.74

Android 17 Vs 2.96 : Android 17 2.72

Android 18 Vs. 2.72 : Android 18 2.36

Android 19 Vs. 3.08 : Android 19 2.49

Cell Vs. 1.79 : Cell 1.49

Hercule Vs. 2.25 : Hercule 1.90

Gt. Saiyaman Vs 2.25 : Gt. Saiyaman 1.97

Japanese Version

Goku Vs - 1.853 : Goku - 1.725

Gohan Vs - 2.059 : Gohan 1.821

Vegeta Vs. - 1.856 : Vegeta 1.757

Krillin Vs 1.797 : Krillin 1.627

Trunks vs. - 1.827 : Trunks 1.803

Piccolo Vs 1.784 : Piccolo 1.547

Tien Vs. 2.077 : Tien 1.875

Yamcha Vs. 1.819 : Yamcha 1.653

Raditz Vs. 1.827 : Raditz 1.653

Nappa Vs. 1.789 : Nappa 1.635

Ginyu Vs. 1.779 : Ginyu 1.600

Reccoome Vs 1.837 : Reccoome 1.736

Zarbon Vs. 1.899 : Zarbon 1.704

Dodoria Vs. 1.941 : Dodoria 1.720

Frieza Vs. 1.861 : Frieza 1.648

Android 16 Vs. 3.339 : Android 16 3.435

Android 17 Vs 3.293 : Android 17 3.189

Android 18 Vs. 3.157 : Android 18 3.245

Android 19 Vs. 3.531 : Android 19 3.357

Cell Vs. 1.773 : Cell 1.429

Hercule Vs. 2.48 : Hercule 1.933

Gt. Saiyaman Vs 2.275 : Gt. Saiyaman 2.00