Two years ago, Diana Spadea decided to attend UCLA to play collegiate tennis. The native of Boca Raton, Fla., wanted to experience the West Coast, much to the chagrin of her parents in Florida. So to appease them, Spadea said she would stay at UCLA for two years, not knowing for sure if her forecast would be true.
As it turned out, Spadea's prediction was right on target. She transferred from UCLA after her sophomore year to Duke, to not only be closer to her family in Florida, but to also be with her sister Luanne. And now she's planning to play a big role for the Blue Devils' women's tennis team.
"It happened to work out that I didn't get along with the coaches, because if I had a great situation there then I would have had to tell my parents, 'Sorry, you lose,'" Spadea said about her situation.
Going against her parents was one thing Spadea was not looking forward to doing. Her family has always been very close, and they have always been playing tennis. Spadea's older siblings-Luanne and Vince-both were excellent tennis players at a young age, so it was natural that the youngest Spadea would find herself with a racket in hand as early as age seven.
At first, Spadea didn't like the game. She described herself as a little chubby kid who wasn't into exercise. Gradually, Spadea grew to love tennis as much as her father and her two older siblings. With her parents concentrating on the success of Luanne and Vince, Diana felt she could do whatever she wanted with her game.
"No one was focusing on me, so I could basically do what I wanted and play without worrying about my results," she said. "I didn't want the attention. My parents were focused on what my sister and my brother were doing, so I got to go to tournaments alone, which is a good experience."
When it came down to choosing colleges, Spadea listed numerous West Coast schools as her favorites. Duke was the only East Coast school she strongly considered attending. But in the midst of making her decision, the Blue Devils signed Wendy Fix and Kim Schiff (who has since transferred to Vanderbilt) during the early signing period.
"I chose UCLA because I liked the big school, the area was great and the program was good," Spadea said. "I was really happy with my choice, at the time."
Besides being unable to see her family until Christmas break, Spadea disliked the style of tennis at UCLA. She said the coaches didn't seem interested in the players, something Spadea didn't enjoy. Still, her freshman year, Spadea played either at No. 2 or No. 3 for the Bruins and earned All-American status.
Once she began thinking of leaving UCLA, Spadea called Duke's head coach, Jody Hyden, about the possibility of transferring. Due to NCAA rules, Hyden couldn't talk with Spadea until she received a release from her coach. So beginning her second season at UCLA, Spadea approached her coach for the release.
"The first day I got back to UCLA my second year I had to get the release, which was a very uncomfortable situation," she said. "I told him I was thinking of leaving. He acted like he was nice about it, and then when we went out to play I was at No. 6. That was kind of a disaster."
Spadea spent her sophomore season thinking too much about her team ranking and less about her play. However, the experience taught her it's not where you play, it's if you win. And by the end of the year, she did win-five straight matches to finish her Bruin career.
So far at Duke, Spadea has been plagued by a wrist injury in the fall and a stomach virus at the beginning of the year. Hyden thinks the Blue Devils haven't seen the best of Diana Spadea.
"Diana's really talented," he said. "She's got a lot of potential, but I think a lot of it has been untapped. She's going to get better and better."
Hyden said she's already one of the best athletes on the team. He also said she listens to advice well. That may be because before college Spadea never had the advantage of having lessons or a coach. With three tennis-playing children, the Spadea family didn't have the money early on for lessons or private coaches. Diana's father was the one who worked with all of the kids, and he eventually became Vince's coach when he turned pro.
But according to Diana, Mr. Spadea is more of a strategist and not a technical coach. When she got to college, Diana had to adjust to hearing about techniques. It's an adjustment Hyden thinks has gone well.
After she finishes college, Spadea most likely will join the professional tour. While many people would think it's easier to enter the professional ranks with two siblings that have been there, Spadea says it's actually harder.
"It's funny most people think that it's easier if your family is in tennis," she said. "But they expect me to be performing at a level that's pretty high. Not only my performance, but they expect my desire and my effort to be very high."
So far, Diana Spadea has shown she has the potential to be a great collegiate player. A few years down the road, the 'collegiate' term in her description will most likely be replaced by 'professional.'
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