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Vince Spadea

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Vince Spadea
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceBoca Raton , Florida USA
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro1993
PlaysRight-handed
Prize moneyUS$4,651,984
Singles
Career record299 - 331
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 18 (February 28, 2005)
Current ranking78
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQF (1999)
French Open3rd (1999, 2002, 2003)
Wimbledon4th (2004)
US Open4th (1995, 1999)
Doubles
Career record63 - 108
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 90 (June 12, 2006)
Last updated on: January 13, 2008.

Vincent Spadea (born July 19, 1974 in Chicago) is an ATP Tour professional tennis player from the United States.

Spadea turned professional in 1993. Going into the 2008 season, he has won one singles and three doubles titles and over $4,605,000 in prize money. In 1999, he broke into the Top 20 players in the world for the first time. He is credited with overcoming the longest losing streak in pro tennis history (21 matches). Working hard on the challenger circuit after his fall, he successfully recovered and eventually won his first career ATP Tour tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona in 2004. His career-high ranking is World No. 18, achieved in February 2005. Spadea has ATP career singles wins over Federer, Sampras, Agassi, Nadal, Roddick, Rafter, Kraijcek, Kafelnikov, Courier, Chang, and Kuerten. He is a 2-time Olympian team member (2000 Sydney/2004 Athens).

While in Boca Raton, he attended the prestigious Saint Andrew's School. During his time there he also helped to win the National Championship for his high school in 1990.

In 2006 Spadea published an autobiographical book, Break Point: The Secret Diary Of A Pro Tennis Player. Spadea criticized a number of tennis players including James Blake and Davis Cup Captain Patrick McEnroe. He called out McEnroe for picking Mardy Fish ahead of him for the 2004 Davis Cup final where the Americans lost to Spain. Spadea criticized Blake for questionable character during a match where Blake allegedly "trash-talked" him . Several sports writers were impressed with Spadea's book, including SI.Com and The Washington Post; Book sales were a surprising success, selling out of hardcover copies and reaching the top of the ranks in sports and tennis books during its debut month. The book is scheduled to be relaunched in paperback in February 2008, and distributed to stores nationwide and online. 2008 marks Spadea's 16th year on tour.

The veteran continues to pursue his off court interests of rap and clothing design. As pro tennis's house rapper, he's performed on national television numerous times including NBC's Today Show with Katie Couric at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, ESPN at Wimbledon, USA Network, CBS's SuperSet Series Special, and The Tennis Channel. His outgoing personality has written him into tennis' most interesting characters. His "No Strings" episode on The Tennis Channel is a famed and regularly rotated show for the last 3 years. Spadea is due to release rap songs in the next 12 months. Working with Binge, the tv pop rock group , and established British producers Epydemix, good things are expected for the BMI singer/songwriter. His signature clothing upstart "SPADEA" is currently available at www.vincespadea.com. You can find hats, shirts, hoodies, and wristbands with his popular icon of a long curly-haired face, and a hat (It's Spadea himself). His famous motto "Spadea Ain't Afraid of Ya" continues to grow in popularity across the tennis globe.

1994 Youngest American(20) to finish the year in top 100

1995 For 2nd consecutive year, finished as youngest American in top 100 Reached 4th RD at US Open, and earned his first top 10 victory over No.7 Kafelnikov in 3rd RD Won first ATP title in doubles in Buenos Aires (w/van Rensburg)

1996 Reached the QF at eight tournaments, including AMS Miami(l. to Sampras

1997 Reached SF in Toulouse and Bogota Won duel doubles titles in Orlando(w/Merklein) and Tashkent(w/Santopadre)

1998 Got to first ATP tour singles final in St.Poelten(l. to Rios) Went to doubles final in Coral Springs(w/Merklein)

1999 Finished in top 20 for first time Posted personal best eight victories over top 10 opponents Defeated No.6 Agassi in 4th RD at Australian Open en-route to career best Grand Slam result in QF(l. to Haas) Advanced to second career final in Indianapolis (l. to Lapentti) after defeating No.1 Sampras in QF when he retired with a hip injury

2000 Went 0-17 in first six months of season before ending 21-match losing streak against Rusedski in first RD at Wimbledon in five-set victory (l. to Portas in 2nd RD) Reached SF at Costa Rica Challenger

2001 Played mainly on Challenger circuit, going 34-15 in singles Captured title at Houston Challenger (d. J. Blake) and reached finals in Tulsa (l. to Hernych), Burbank (l. to K. Kim) and Tyler (l. to Okun)

2002 Finished in Top 100 for first time in three years… Also reached first ATP SF since ‘99 Lyon… Won North Miami Beach Challenger (d. Fukarek At Roland Garros reached 3rd RD

2003 Finished in Top 30 for first time since ‘99 Reached QF in San Jose and SF in Memphis and AMS Indian Wells Opened clay court circuit with SF at AMS Monte-Carlo (l. to Ferrero) In second half of year, reached QF in Los Angeles, Costa do Sauipe and St. Petersburg while advancing to SF in Moscow

2004 Compiled his best pro season by finishing a year-end best No. 19 Captured his first career ATP title in Scottsdale (d. Kiefer) Won a personal-high 40 matches In March, posted wins over Blake, No. 3 Roddick and Kiefer in last three rounds to earn first ATP title in his 223rd career tournament Later in month, advanced to SF at Masters Series Miami (d. Safin in 2nd, l. to Roddick) Best result on clay was QF at AMS Rome On grass, turned in career-best 4th RD at Wimbledon and followed with QF in Newport In September, reached final in Delray Beach (l. to Mello) In Europe, reached SF in Lyon and 3rd RD at ATP Masters Series stops in Madrid and Paris Named to U.S. Davis Cup squad for final against Spain Put together a 24-14 record on hard, 6-3 on grass, 5-8 on clay and 5-4 on carpet Earned career high $704,105

2005 Reached an ATP final for second year in a row Finished in top 100 for 10th time in career In February, was 8-4 with SF at hometown event in Delray Beach (l. to Malisse), QF at San Jose (l. to Saulnier) and SF in defense of his Scottsdale title (l. to Ancic) Reached 3rd RD at ATP Masters Series Miami (l. to Ljubicic) Reached fifth career ATP final at Newport (l. to Rusedski) Late in the season, reached QF at Lyon with wins over Ljubicic and Llodra (l. to Santoro)... In doubles, reached SF in Newport (w/G. Lapentti) Joined with Jan Hernych to reach US Open 3rd RD doubles Went 14-7 on hard, 4-2 on grass, and 2-5 on clay

2006 Singles Semifinalist: San Jose, Delray Beach Doubles Semifinalist: Delray Beach(w/Garcia-Lopez)

Titles

Singles Titles

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (1)
Challengers (6)


No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. July 25, 1994 United States Winnetka Hard Italy Cristiano Caratti 6-1 4-6 7-5
2. August 1, 1994 United States Cincinnati Hard United States Jim Grabb 6-7 7-6 7-5
3. October 17, 1994 United States Ponte Vedra Hard Zimbabwe Kevin Ullyett 6-3 6-4
4. September 2, 1996 Aruba Aruba Hard South Africa Grant Stafford 6-3 7-5
5. October 22, 2001 United States Houston Hard United States James Blake 6-2 6-7 6-2
6. March 11, 2002 United States North Miami Beach Hard Czech Republic Ota Fukarek 4-6 6-1 6-4
7. March 1, 2004 United States Scottsdale Hard Germany Nicolas Kiefer 7-5 6-7 6-3


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