First round at the Australian Open, out on the wilds of Court 19, Vince Spadea is being “spanked like a redheaded stepchild”. Down 6-2, 6-2 against the seeded Radek Stepanek, Spadea goes all McEnroe at a change of ends, clearing his courtside drinks with one swipe of the racquet and upturning the table for good measure. But the 33-year-old American shakes off his ennui to pull off a stunning win, his 300th professional victory. That Stepanek is “amazingly annoying to play against” probably helped the 80th ranked Spadea. His next round also goes to the wire, with Spadea surviving 9-7 in the fifth.

Coming back from the dead is emblematic of Spadea’s career. Once the youngest American in the top 100, he was branded with the dubious distinction of being the biggest loser in tennis – 21 consecutive first-round exits in 1999-2000, before rebounding to a No.18 ranking and a breakthrough singles title in his 223rd career tournament.

It’s far from the Federesque heights, but then there’s more to this tennis survivor than mere numbers. Spadea is the tennis tour’s resident rapper (not black, not white, but “off-white”), a designer of his own clothing line, a part-owner of Hollywood restaurant Providence and the author of Break Point, a ripping read about life on the pro tour.

I can’t take my eyes off your blingy Prada purse.
Prada purse. Drivin’ me berserk. What could be worse?

Do you actually like it or are you being ironic?
I’m a human being; when I see the colour gold, I smile, or I think positive. It excites me. So I went ahead and said: “Let’s get unique with the wallet.” It’s like having another pair of lips – people are just going to be looking at it all the time.

And it matches so well with the blingy phone.
The blingy phone. Never leave these people alone. ’Cos I’m like Michael Corleone. With a little more goaald. I’m gettin’ old, I’m still gettin’ bold. With my phone and wallet. Dude can’t stop it.

We’ve already attracted an audience.
(To a fellow player) I’m doin’ a rap, dude. C’mon! People are attracted to me like a magnet, y’know? People sit next to me, they wanna listen to what I’m saying. People see me, they wanna come talk to me. Y’know, have a few drinks with Vince Spadea, he ain’t afraid a ya. Yeah, I’m radiant, confident, depressed.

You called your 2006 autobiography Break Point. Do we infer from the title that tennis has broken you at times, or come close to breaking you?
A break point can also be a turning point, not just the point at which you break down. It could be the climax to being vindicated – and completely successful – or broken. I was gonna call it Broke Point because I looked into my Prada wallet one day …

Break Point is an opportunity to give yourself the leverage, the edge, the advantage to be ahead in life and in the tennis game. What are you gonna do? What decisions are you going to make when you have a defining moment? I think Break Point says a lot about how you operate on and off the court. People go: “Break Point? Is that the movie?” I’m like, “That’s Point Break.” That’s the point where you do break.

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