THE tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: MONDAY, MARCH 8, NO, 74

Spadea shoots for Top 10 after snagging first title
New coach Aparicio: 'After Vince's first run [in '99] and he didn't get the attention the other players got, I think he felt left out'
Spadea: 'When your ranking drops like that, you don't have a purpose'

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

© Mark Lyons

Spadea looks to cash in on a new reservoir of confidence.

A week ago, one of Pancho Gonzalez's first young teaching pros, Joe Aparicio, decided to fly from his home in Las Vegas to Scottsdale and tryout as Vince Spadea's new coach. A week later, the unheralded yet insightful coach was standing next to the unheralded yet super-motivated veteran after he won his first career crown in Scottsdale.

Eleven years and three months after Aparicio had seen Vince had win the 1992 junior Orange Bowl, the 52-year-old stood side by side with the 29-year-old Spadea in the Franklin Templeton Classic winner's circle. Aparacio has seen the good, the bad and mediocre sides of Spadea's game. He was on tour with Michael Joyce in 1999 when Spadea shocked Andre Agassi and reached the quarters of the Aussie Open, ending the year ranked a career high No. 20. He saw him at a Las Vegas Challenger at the end of Spadea's disastrous year of 2000, when Vince went 0-21 from January through July and finished the year a horrific No. 229.

"I always felt he was going to come back. It was almost like he was free falling until he landed and he was going to try to come back," Aparicio said. "It was more of confidence thing. There was a lot of expectations for him when he was younger and then he made his first run at [stardom in 1999] and he didn't get the attention the other players got, I think he felt left out. And then when things started going wrong, he couldn't rely on his support network to pick him up."

It took Spadea nearly two years to recover from his plunge, as he spent all of 2001 and the first half of 2002 playing Challengers. He's always been a grinder, but even grinders need to take mental breaks. Vince didn't know how to.

Spadea: 'When your ranking drops like that, you don't have a purpose'
"[The memories] are kind of fading now," Spadea said. "I didn't have my heart into. I was playing a little injured, not prepared and thinking I could still win. It was difficult. The ranking drop was the thing that woke me up the most. When your ranking drops like that, you don't have a purpose. There is no income coming in. You're dishing out to cover the places to play in that aren't as nice Scottsdale. I was playing matches like the one against Kiefer for $250 a match. So when I'm playing two-and half-hours in the hot sun today, you have the extra to dig deep to. The slump days actually gave me strength rather than discouragement."

Aparicio believes that Spadea may have turned pro too early. A product of a tennis driven family that includes sisters, Luanne and Diane, who both played for Duke, and an intense father and his sometimes coach, Vince Sr., Spadea was on the hot seat every day of his youth.

"He's an aggressive baseliner and I don't think he totally understood the assets he has," Aparicio said. "He relied on his power game. He should have learned the transition and execution at the net a long time ago, but he didn't have the support. He started very young after winning the Orange Bowl and it's like in the majors where they throw a player out there whose not developed totally. He won with what he had, but he didn't totally develop his game.

"Then it becomes mental after that. You don't want to make a change because then you would have to admit there's something a little wrong. Then coaches come into try and put their stamps on you and you get a little suspicious and then you just want to stick with what you do well. Then you end up closing off your capabilities."

Before Aparicio came aboard, Spadea went to dinner with former Czech Top-10er Karol Novacek, who told him a thing or two about winning.

"He said, 'I just can't believe you haven't won a title. It's unfathomable. You must been doing something really wrong. It's just one title, it's not Wimbledon anything.' He was telling me that taking a shower after winning a title is an unparalleled feeling. He gave me great insight into digging deeper."
Spadea went on to add with a chuckle,"He's actually my financial adviser, so I think that's more the reason he gave me the speech."

Aparicio remembers watching Spadea at '03 TMS Indian Wells, when Vince reached the semis before falling to eventual champ Lleyton Hewitt. He could tell that Spadea was almost all the way back.

"His focus was spot on," Aparicio said. "Here, I can see he's improved on his serve, his forehand. His speed off the ball has improved and he's made effort to go to the net. His attitude and professionalism are better. At his age, he takes it more seriously now. When you're younger and you have all this talent you think its going to last. Now he's committed and motivated to do the best he can."

GOING TO INDIAN WELLS WITH A NEW ATTITUDE
Vince also brought memories of Indian Wells to Scottsdale, some four hours a way by car and a locale that shares a similar climate and courts. He said that he tried to recapture the magic and ended up having the best week of his career.

Gene Lower

Vince knocked off Roddick, Kiefer and Blake.

As mediocre as the Scottsdale field might have appeared to be some on the outside, Spadea's road to the title was a difficult one. He notched victories over '02 Aussie Open champ Thomas Johansson, tricky lefty serve and volleyer Wayne Arthurs, an in-form James Blake, US Open champ Andy Roddick and then cantankerous Kiefer, who had reached the Memphis final two weeks ago. After he had blown the second set, Vince appeared on the ropes while facing three break points in the opening game of the third.

"It was much like against Roddick when he lost a little momentum and then got down 0-40 and came back with five straight points," said Aparicio, who also coached David Pate. "In the past, he would just drop off. This time he bounced back and reminded himself of what he has to do."

Spadea is also a much more keen thinker than he once was. He's learning to use his weapons and if he does find a style he can consistently employ, the Top 10 is not out of the question. He's only 12 spots away and other than Indian Wells, he doesn't have a ton of points to defend.

"I think he can," Aparicio said. "I think Agassi proved that. Andre made some changes later in his career under Brad Gilbert and that's what I looked for Vincent to do. He's sturdy and strong, he's got great legs so he can play a lot of these matches. The key is not to overdo it and get the points a little quicker so he's be fresher for the matches as they develop. He has the ability; he just needs to focus.
What he does better now is when he loses tempo on the ball, he tends to recognize it. Before, he would have people in trouble and his pace would drop off. Now he recognizes it and starts pushing himself."

While the victory over the third-ranked Roddick was sweet and significant for Spadea – who hadn't beaten a Top-3 player since 1999 – it was nowhere near as fulfilling as following it up against Kiefer and in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,700 fans, hearing IMG's Peter Tatum announce his name with the moniker "2004 champion."

"I'm notorious for beating a Top-5 player and losing the next match, so to beat Andy and James and then today when I couldn't close it out and I had to dig as deep as I've ever tried to dig and then finish it off, it's wonderful," Spadea said. "I need a thesaurus to come up with a better word for how good I feel."