By Vince Spadea
Spanning thirteen specialist seasons, this colourful and private account of 1 man's existence at the grueling professional tennis circuit pulls no punches. As one among in basic terms avid gamers over the age of 30 ranked within the most sensible 20 gamers on the earth, Vince Spadea deals an within standpoint on his existence as a world-class athlete: 11-month seasons, sixty eight tournaments, 5 continents, 4 court docket surfaces, and numerous hits and misses. beginning at age eight less than the tutelage of his hard father, he climbed the scores, scuffling with damage, training judgements, and snubs from either lovers and gamers. His position within the glamorous and gritty world-class tennis scene supplies him a lot dust to dish, and all of the sizeable names are there—Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, Martina Navratilova, and Jennifer Capriati. Spadea takes photographs with John McEnroe at perform, raps with the Williams sisters over e-mail, and trades barbs with Andre Agassi, who as soon as known as Spadea a "journeyman." half memoir and half expos?, this both comedian and gripping journey via expert tennis finds that the sport could commence at the courtroom, however it maintains a ways outdoors the white strains.
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Extra resources for Break Point! The Secret Diary of a Pro Tennis Player
Sample text
I go back to the Starbucks — my favorite place to hang out before a match — and stay loose. In Spadea vs. Nadal, we have old vs. new, unheralded vs. heralded, American vs. Spaniard, shorthaired vs. longhaired — and 10,000 Spanish tennis fans screaming for him to win. The only person in the whole place rooting for me is my coach. I’ve never played this kid, who is rising fast, already No. 42 in the world, but I’m a confident man and experienced. I take the first set, but every point is a grind.
All excuses out the window, I tried my best tonight, but I didn’t execute as well as I can. Robby evened the score against me in our match tally, and played so strongly that I felt almost like there was nothing I could do about it except go back to the hotel at the end of the match, mind my business, and get ready for Australia. Robby has matches where he plays great tennis, and then he has times when he gets into funks, loses his rhythm, and can’t win a match. 42 BreakPoint_FINAL 8/3/06 4:54 PM Page 43 Today he was on, but who knows how he’ll play tomorrow.
There must be something innate in humans that we love to see precious, precocious teenage wonders conquer the adult world with early success. It’s a novelty to achieve the seemingly “impossible” at such a young age. Maybe this fascination with young achievers comes from a lifelong personal dream of ours lived vicariously through the young, rich, and beautiful star. The majority of us don’t want to get old. Old is bad, young is good, and this sentiment is only heightened in a sport like tennis, where a Boris Becker wins Wimbledon at 17, and great champions like Björn Borg and John McEnroe never won a Grand Slam title after the age of 25.