 | Born: 19/7/74 Nationality: American Seeded: 30 World ranking: 30 Wimbledon best:
2nd round (1998, 2000, 2002) Recent record:
2003: 2nd round
2002: 2nd round
2001: n/a |
Spadea is perhaps best known as the player who lost 21 straight matches. The American's horror run came in 2000, and saw him drop from a ranking of 20th at the beginning of the year to 229th.
Once touted as a potential top 10 player, Spadea plunged to Challenger tournament level to rediscover his form and boost his battered confidence.
It was a long road back but in March 2004, more than 10 years after turning professional, he lifted his first ATP Trophy in Scottsdale.
Spadea took the title after beating compatriot and world number two Andy Roddick in the semi-finals.
He had finally regained his place in the top 50 last year with semi-final appearances at the Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Monte Carlo.
Unlike many of his fellow Americans, Spadea is happy trading groundstrokes on clay and reached the quarter-finals at the Rome Masters in the lead-up to this year's French Open.
But his Grand Slam record is not impressive, with several early exits at Wimbledon.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
