Tennis Prose




Jul/12

16

Spadea Reveals His Greatest Comeback and Worst Choke


“Australian Open, I’m down against Radek Stepanek 62 62 53. He’s serving for the match. I come back and win in five sets. Any questions? (How did you do it?) To be honest with you, I don’t know if the mind works this way or it’s coincidental. The week before I was getting over the Super Bowl and how the Giants stole that title away from the deserved champions (Patriots) [laughs]. Because I’m a Boston boy. But in any case, I was studying Tom Brady. What makes him that good? The guy was fifth string at Michigan, worked his way up. So, long story short, he said he idolized (Joe) Montana. Both of their key success components was coming back. Not only in the fourth quarter, in the last minute. They still believed. They performed more aggressively, more confidently, more relaxed. They were Federer with 58 seconds to go and down a touchdown. So I was studying. I got kind of inspired. I was watching the You Tubes. I don’t know if it worked against me at first – by putting me in such a bad position against Stepanek [laughs] – I was like, the motto is ‘coming back.’ I honestly was mentally prepared. Every great champ – Federer, Nadal, Sampras, Seles – they went through a tournament like this. And they got in the position of hardship, of challenge. And they did what Tom Brady did. There’s something in the mind that got him through. That’s what I wanted to do. Then in the second round I beat (Denis) Gremelmayr down six match points. So even in the last seconds I had like a rock solid confidence and perseverance in my head. I don’t think that’s coincidental. That’s a psychology lesson.”

Worst Blown Lead: “I know I had a couple of those. I’ve had so many good comebacks. 5-0 in the fifth at the French Open against Florent Serra and I came back and won 8-6 in the fifth. Another time I was down 62 54 and 40-15 against Sergi Bruguera on red clay and I came back and won. Ever heard of that guy? Alright, enough of my comebacks. But when I choked my brains out…I know there’s been times like that too. I was up…actually there ain’t been no times, man. I take ’em uptown. Spadea the menace of tennis. My lyrics finish five minutes but stay with you endless. I don’t try to defend this. Don’t try to comprehend this… [smiles]”

11 comments

  • Steve · July 16, 2012 at 4:59 pm

    One of you guys should befriend Stepanek and write his book.

  • Dan markowitz · July 16, 2012 at 7:29 pm

    Yeah, publishers are dying to start a bidding war on a Stepanek book.

  • Steve · July 16, 2012 at 7:37 pm

    Well, you can always advise him to record a rap record to boost sales.

  • TC · July 16, 2012 at 8:06 pm

    didn’t he choke against Rusedski once? Newport maybe?

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 16, 2012 at 8:41 pm

    Stepanek is actually a superb interview – no doubt he could write an excellent bio.

  • Dan markowitz · July 16, 2012 at 8:41 pm

    Spadea did, yes, in finals of Newport, serving for title at 5-3 in third. The Spadea book sold 7,000 copies and would’ve sold more if the publisher didn’t go out of business suddenly. It is a cult classic of sorts, it was funnier and more ribald, but right before printing, Spadea feared hed get sued or his two lawyer sisters did, and a lot of good material was pulled.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 16, 2012 at 8:42 pm

    Dan was there a bidding war for “Break Point”? Can’t always go by what the publishers think, the success commercially and also critically of “Break Point” proved it.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 16, 2012 at 8:45 pm

    Enjoyed Vince’s replies for this feature. He cited matches I had never heard of like the wins over Bruguera and Serra. I think this feature portrays Vince as the free thinking unique intelligent character he is.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 16, 2012 at 8:45 pm

    TC yes Vince did blow that match with Rusedski, Dan can share more details, he was just talking about it in Newport last week.

  • Andrew Miller · July 17, 2012 at 2:01 am

    Sheesh. Spadea WOULD make a good coach. He’s just got the right mind for it and cares about the game. He seems to also see the game from the point of view of another player, so that would serve him well.

    But hey, Spadea’s decision.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 17, 2012 at 2:27 am

    Spadea will succeed in coaching tennis just like he succeeded in playing tennis. The man knows how to get results.

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