Former Top 20 American Vince Spadea had already managed to parlay success on the tennis court into success in the business world. But his star is truly on the rise after his pivotal role in ‘Battle Of The Sexes,’ Hollywood’s take on the 1973 epic showdown between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.

In addition to his role as advisor to Oscar winner Emma Stone, who plays Billie Jean King, and actor/producer Steve Carell, who plays Bobby Riggs, Spadea also doubled as Riggs during on-court scenes. During one such scene, Spadea traded shots with Stone’s stunt double dressed as Riggs one minute, and fed balls to Stone in ball boy attire the next.

“There was a scene where the ball boy wasn’t getting the ball toss right; his rhythm was off,” Spadea said. “At Emma’s request, I stood in for the shot. “I had to get dressed up as the ball boy and throw her the ball.”

During his lengthy career (1993-2011), Spadea gained attention both on the court – 311 wins, a career-high ranking of 18, the 2004 Scottsdale title, 21 Top 10 wins, including over Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick – and off the court, as one of the game’s most colourful personalities. He dabbled in rapping, coining the phrase, ‘Spadea, I’m not afraid of ya’. So it should come as little surprise that the 43-year-old now finds himself in Hollywood.

Apart from that, Spadea stuck to his main job: to prepare Stone for her role as King before filming got underway. To do so, Spadea, an 18-year-veteran of the ATP Tour, studied tape of the match in order to pick up the nuances of King’s style and game, and to get a feel for the milestone event in general. Stone, who won the Academy Award for “Best Actress in a Leading Role” for her performance in 2016’s “La La Land,” was quick to pick up King’s mannerisms and overall on-court demeanor.

“I worked with Emma on things like King’s walk, where she put her head, rested her racquet during that match,” Spadea said. “We also worked on her grip and stroke production: her rotation, stance, swing and follow-through technique.

“It really was an artistic project. Emma was a super-hard worker and a great student. She transitioned into King quickly. You could see the differences from the first week to the fourth, sixth through the eighth, 10th to the 12th. It was great to synchronise [Stone’s] body; she doubled as King.”

During one of their training sessions, King dropped by to provide feedback and a few pointers.

“King wasn’t on set, but we did work together one time before production started,” Spadea said. “She demonstrated some technical things; the ball toss, where her eyes were on the ball, her slice [backhand]. She felt [Stone and I] worked well together and was happy with how things were turning out.”

Spadea was also instrumental in getting Carell into tennis form. With Spadea also serving as his understudy’s stunt double for some on-court scenes, the player paid visits to Carell’s house to iron out match sequences.

“Carell has a lot of confidence and already had a lot of tennis talent before we met,” Spadea said. “He was all business and we got along great. We practised lobs, slices, a wide range of shots that we’d use during filming.

“The production team wasn’t sure how much of Carell or me they were going to use during the shots of match play, so I had to be Riggs theatrically and work on getting Carell to be Riggs.”

Spadea, who credits his success running his talent agency, Vince Models, based in Beverly Hills, as the reason he was hired for the job, wasn’t restricted to transforming the actors into their tennis counterparts and a Los Angeles movie set into the Houston Astrodome. In addition, his role as “tennis choreographer/technical advisor” meant he was tasked with replicating the atmosphere and ambiance of the event.

“We paid a lot of attention to detail,” Spadea said. “I had some third party counseling, to get the right umpire, the right crowd, the right attire, to make it all look authentic. We had to find the same court surface, the same material that was used during that match, things like that.

“We found some private locations to work on scenes to get the feeling right. We wanted everything to be relevant, from where the umpires were standing to how they were standing.”

Besides the aesthetics, the velocity of the game itself has changed over the 40-plus years since the “Battle of the Sexes” showdown. Spadea analysed those aspects to give the on-court action scenes the perfect fit and feel.

“We had to assess how the players hit, served and moved,” Spadea said. “How big were their biggest shots? Hardest serves? We had to calibrate all of that. Obviously, we had to slow things down a bit, pull back a little bit, to replicate the times since the movie is set in 1973. Don’t get me wrong, Billie Jean hit hard, and Bobby played with some finesse; he was very fast. We had to take all that into account.”

In the 40 days Spadea was involved in shooting, work hours often stretched from early morning into the late evening. During that time, the player made friends and enjoyed some lighthearted moments, both on and off the set.

“I mingled with the actors during the shooting and I went to one of Emma’s charity events,” Spadea said. “It isn’t often you get to work with Oscar-winning talent, and my years of experience as a tennis pro was embraced by the Hollywood set.

“I ran into some of the cast at a preview of the movie in Los Angeles. That was interesting. You make a movie and it doesn’t come out until a year and a half later, but it was nice to see everyone again.”

Vince Spadea in action on set, standing in for actor Steve Carell. Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon/FOX Searchlight

Whether you’d like to call it ‘five-for-five’ or ‘five-with-five’, ATP World Tour veteran Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi will attempt to win his fifth doubles title of the year with a fifth different partner at the Chengdu Open on Sunday.

“It’s obviously a very, very good feeling and a great feeling to reach four finals and win all four of them, especially playing with four different partners,” said Qureshi, who alongside partner Jonathan Erlich will play either Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner or Yen-Hsun Lu and Divij Sharan, who contest their semi-final Saturday. “[I] hope things go well and I can get another title this year, with a different partner again.”

Qureshi has had an inconsistent year, but not just in the way you might think. The Pakistani has now played with 14 different partners this season — 15, if you include Davis Cup. Yet it has arguably been one of the right-hander’s most successful campaigns. He started 2017 at No. 40 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, his lowest year-end finish since 2009 (No. 59). Yet Qureshi won four titles by the end of July, and is on the doorstep of a fifth, which would break his own personal record of four titles in one season (2011).

“Honestly speaking I had no idea I had won four titles in the past in a year,” the former World No. 8 admitted.  “That’s a great statistic, I had no clue about it. Obviously would be awesome if I could break that record of mine.”

Qureshi has climbed back to No. 29 in the rankings, despite tough finishes at the Grand Slams. His best result at a major this year — of course, with three different partners — was a third-round appearance at Wimbledon with Florin Mergea. The North American hard court swing was also tough for Qureshi, who lost five matches in a row — with four different partners — after capturing the Newport title with Rajeev Ram.

“Tennis is a funny sport, you know? Before the summer I won four titles and won a Challenger as well and was feeling pretty good,” said Qureshi, who wouldn’t let the disappointment send him into a funk. “I think it’s just about telling yourself you’re playing well and you’ve got to keep working hard and stay in the process and don’t think about the results too much. I feel like if you’re doing the right things with the right attitude, good things happen.”

Good things have certainly happened this week in Chengdu for Qureshi and Erlich, who beat the top-seeded duo of Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic, the Wimbledon finalists, in the first round. And while they did not form their partnership because of it, Qureshi hopes that playing with Erlich, an Israeli, sends a positive message to people in their countries and around the world. He once before played with Erlich in Houston in 2015, but made worldwide headlines more than a decade earlier when he partnered another Israeli, Amir Hadad, at Wimbledon in 2002.

“I think winning a title with Jonathan would be very, very special,” Qureshi said. “The message we send or the people get from it obviously is about friendship and about peace and I hope we can change or influence a few people’s lives… the message people can get, hopefully the positive one, is going to be a bonus [in addition to the results] for both of us.”

Then, there is the question of age. Qureshi, 37, is closer to the end of his career than he is to the beginning, but don’t bring up that number to him. If you ask Qureshi, he’ll point out the success of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal this season.

“I know I’m 37, but I still feel like I’m 27. That’s how my heart feels,” Qureshi said. “I’m really happy to bounce back obviously after a very, very rough summer and hopefully can turn things around again and have a great end of the season and finish the year hopefully Top 20, if not Top 15.”

If there’s one thing you should know about Qureshi, it’s that he still has goals he wants to achieve and he will do everything in his power to accomplish them.

“I still have a lot of motivation and [I’m] still motivated to get back into Top 10 and to win a Slam and to be World No. 1. I think that’s what drives me to make me work harder every day and every week and hopefully I can achieve these goals,” Qureshi said. “I think I still really have a few more good years in me and hopefully I can spend those years in the top of the game.”

Carlos Taberner, a quarter-finalist this week at the BFD Challenger event in Rome, knew what he was getting himself into even before the 2017 season began. 

The #NextGenATP star entered the season with the purpose of staying active and playing as many Challenger events as possible. After what he admitted weren’t the ideal results, Taberner has now reached at least the quarter-finals each of the past three weeks.

“My goal at the beginning of the year was to compete full-time in the Challenger Tour,” Taberner said. “I’ve been working really [hard] from the beginning of the season.

“I would come through qualifiers and not do well in the main draw. The results didn’t come and the months were passing. Now I’ve reached two Challenger finals in a row — in Banja Luka [Bosnia and Herzegovina] and Sibiu [Romania]. I am very happy with my form. I’ve started to play better and have more confidence now.”

Taberner has a chance to make it three Challenger finals in a row with an impressive showing this week. On Wednesday, he powered past Portugal’s Pedro Sousa, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to book a spot against Argentina’s Patricio Heras in the quarter-finals.

Despite the busy schedule and recent runs deep into tournaments, Taberner doesn’t feel fatigue will be a factor in his match against Heras. The Spaniard is most comfortable on clay — his favorite surface — and relishes the opportunity to play in Rome.

“I’m very happy because I won two matches this week and I will play in the quarter-finals on Friday,” Taberner said. “It will be tough, but I am prepared for that match.

“This is very special to me because after Spain, Italy is my second country; I like it so much here. Rome is very beautiful and the club is also very nice. I’m happy here.”

The recent string of positive results has propelled Taberner to a career-high No. 199 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Currently, he’s the top Spaniard in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan at No. 23 and one of five players from Spain in the Top 50.

Still, one thing has eluded him so far that two of his #NextGenATP countrymen have achieved: an ATP Challenger title.

17-year-old Nicola Kuhn, ranked No. 27 in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan, captured the Braunschweig Challenger in Germany as a qualifier in July. Less than a month later, Jaume Munar, ranked No. 34 in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan, earned his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in Segovia, Spain.

For Taberner’s part, he feels no pressure to compete for trophies. Instead, he’s choosing to focus on how to enhance his own game, knowing that his fellow #NextGenATP stars aren’t his only competition: Seasoned stalwarts returning from injuries as well as grizzled veterans also lurk week in and week out on the Challenger Tour.

“[Kuhn and Munar] did really well to win Challenger titles; that isn’t easy,” Taberner said. “But to be honest, I am only thinking of myself and trying to improve day by day; I try to be a better player every day.

“The level [on the Challenger Tour] is very high because there are really good players here. There are some top players that were injured and coming back as well as some of the young players trying to make it on the Tour. It’s a really high level of play.”

Based on his own high level of play as of late, Taberner is proving he can hold his own against all types on the Challenger Tour.

Second seed David Goffin cruised to his fourth ATP World Tour semi-final of the season with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over eighth-seeded Donald Young at the Shenzhen Open on Friday, advancing in 64 minutes.

“I was moving really well. I served also really well from the start. I was really aggressive. And I finished really well,” Goffin said. “I’m really happy the way I played today.” 

Goffin set the tone early, breaking Young in the opening game of the match for what would be the first of five times on the day. The Belgian reached at least deuce in all but two of the American’s service games, winning 68 per cent of second-serve return points. 

The biggest moment of tension in the match came early in the second set, when Young broke back against Goffin to even the set at 2-2. But the right-hander won four of the next five games, breaking twice, to seal his spot in the semi-final. 

The World No. 12 inched closer to a breakthrough in 2017, as Goffin is in pursuit of his first title of the year. The first Belgian man to ever break into the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings — which he did in February — has reached two finals this season (Sofia l. Dimitrov, Rotterdam l. Tsonga), and can make it three Saturday should he defeat World No. 107 Henri Laaksonen.

Sixth seed Damir Dzumhur caused the upset of the tournament when he beat World No. 4 Alexander Zverev, 6-4, 7-5 in 90 minutes.

Despite falling behind a break in both sets, Dzumhur was undeterred. After the German led 2-0 in the opening set, he won six of the next eight games to gain the lead. In the second set, Dzumhur overcame a larger 1-4 deficit to win six of the next seven games and with it, the match. The 25 year old was opportunistic, breaking Zverev on four of his seven opportunities.

Dzumhur, who won last week in St. Petersburg, is in-form, having now won eight matches in a row, and 16 of his last 19 since reaching the Los Cabos semi-finals in August. The World No. 40 will reach a career-high in the Emirates ATP Rankings next week. 

Laaksonen ended the dream run of Chinese qualifier Zhizhen Zhang, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, to reach his first ATP World Tour semi-final in two hours and five minutes. It looked like the Swiss might be destined for heart-break for the second time this season — he lost to David Ferrer in the Bastad quarter-finals despite holding two match points — when Zhang earned break point at 1-1 in the third set, but Laaksonen recovered to break the next game and would not look back.

The 25 year old fought off a break point while up 3-1 in the deciding set and two deuce points at 4-2 before breaking his opponent to finish the match. Zhang was attempting to become only the second Chinese man to advance to an ATP World Tour semi-final (Bing Pan, 1995).

Fifth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov advanced to his third semi-final of 2017, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 when Dudi Sela retired.

Second Seeds Escape In Deciding Tie-Break

Second-seeded Alexander Peya and Rajeev Ram overcame a second-set hiccup to defeat Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald, 6-4, 3-6, 10-3 in the only doubles match of the day. They will face either top-seeded Nikola Mektic and Nicholas Monroe or Andre Sa and Sela.

Fifth seed Yuichi Sugita advanced to the semi-finals of the Chengdu Open on Friday as he defeated Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-4 in 64 minutes.

It is another step forward in what has been a career year for the Japanese player. The 29-year-old Sugita won his first ATP World Tour title in Antalya on grass in June (d. Mannarino) and reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final in Cincinnati (l. to Dimitrov). Earlier this month, the right-hander hit a new career-high at No. 42 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Sugita made short work of Lajovic, converting four of his six break points and winning 70 per cent of his service points in the pair’s first meeting.

“I think this year has been amazing,” said Sugita. “I’m focused to try and reach another final tomorrow and just trying to enjoy it.”

Sugita goes on to face Denis Istomin, who edged #NextGenATP American Jared Donaldson 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(5). Istomin saved four break points in a crucial hold in the fifth game of the second set, before breaking Donaldson in the 12^th game to level the match. After missing a match point in the 10^th game of the decider, the Uzbekistani ultimately prevailed in the tie-break after two hours and 30 minutes.

“I started really bad in the first set,” said Istomin. “He was going great. All his strokes were working and he was serving well. In the second set I found my game and my serve and started to play more aggressively, especially on the second serve return. In the third set I just tried to keep going and tried to fight. In general it was a good match and I’m happy with the win.”

The 31-year-old Istomin is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since winning his maiden title in Nottingham two years ago (d. Querrey).

Erlich/Qureshi Reach Final
Jonathan Erlich and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi booked their spot in the Chengdu final as they defeated third seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Nenad Zimonjic 6-3, 6-4 in 69 minutes. The Israeli/Pakistani duo are bidding for their first team title on the ATP World Tour.

It might be too soon to call it a rivalry. But China’s Zhizhen Zhang, who Friday appears in his first ATP World Tour quarter-final in Shenzhen, already has one eye on his countryman and fellow young talent Yibing Wu.

At 17 years old, Yibing clinched the 2017 US Open boys’ singles and doubles titles in September. A week later, he claimed Shanghai’s Challenger title. Zhizhen is fully aware of Yibing’s recent string of success, but his familiarity with his fellow Chinese hopeful goes back further than that.

The two met recently at the 2017 National Games of China, a competition held every four years in which athletes from their provincial teams meet in their respective sports for medals.

“[Yibing] is playing so well lately, so I really want to challenge him,” Zhizhen said. “I actually lost to him during the National Games [4-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Aug.16], but I want to play him in an ATP-level event. I’m very motivated to do this.”

Zhizhen, 20 years old, is quick to point out that he’s friendly with Yibing. The two first met at a Davis Cup tie in Chinese Taipei in February, where they shared a room and quickly bonded over hobbies. “We shared a hotel room together; he got there first,” Zhizhen said. “I still remember when I got to the hotel room, he was watching [Taiwanese singer] Jay Chou in concert. I was listening to a lot of Chou’s music at the time, too.

“We’re both young and like similar things, such as cell phone games, so we got to know each other that way.”

While the two prepared for their respective matches, it was an experience after practice that brought the players closer.

“During that Davis Cup tie in Chinese Taipei, the younger players were asked to perform a talent show at the welcoming party. We looked into magic tricks on the internet and rehearsed a lot of those tricks over the next couple of days. I performed the magic act, while Yibing chose to sing for his performance, which really impressed the audience. To hang out and bond after practice was so much fun.”

Zhizhen and Yibing went on to win their respective Davis Cup matches against Chinese Taipei and clinch the tie 5-0. Immediately after the competition, the pair teamed up at a Futures event in China, where they lost in the first round. Zhizhen makes light of their short time as doubles partners. “Maybe that’s why he’s partnering with [No. 220-ranked] Wu Di instead of me now,” Zhizhen joked.

Both Zhizhen and Yibing were in action this week in separate events in China. On Wednesday, Zhizhen upset fourth seed Paolo Lorenzi, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), in two hours and 31 minutes at the Shenzhen Open. Despite being ranked 456 places below Lorenzi, Zhizhen managed to stay composed after losing the first set and again when staring down two crucial break points in the third. A qualifier at the event, Zhizhen is into his first ATP Tour-level quarter-final, where he’ll face Henri Laaksonen for a spot in Saturday’s semi-finals.

Yibing, who made his first ATP Tour-level appearance on Monday, lost to Thiago Monteiro in three sets in the first round of the Chengdu Open.

As an up-and-comer who hopes to one day play at Wimbledon, Zhizhen nearly chose to pursue another sport entirely.

An only child, Zhizhen was exposed to athletics at an early age. His father, Weihua, played soccer for a professional team in Shanghai, while his mother, Qin Wei, was a member of the Shanghai shooting and archery team. Zhizhen attended one of his father’s soccer matches at a young age, though he remembers little of what transpired on the field and more of how he felt in the stands.

“My memory is blurry now,” Zhizhen said. “All I remember is that we arrived at the arena at noon and I was so hungry that all I could think about the whole time was when I was going to eat.”

Zhizhen’s parents enrolled their son in tennis and swimming lessons when he was four. By the time he was six, Zhizhen already found himself at a crossroads and was forced to pick between the sports.

His choice? Tennis. The reason? “My swimming coach was too tough.”

Older and firmly set as a tennis player, Zhizhen turns to his agent, former World No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic, for career advice these days. Because Zhizhen spends most of his time in China, the two haven’t had a chance to meet face to face in 2017. Despite that, they keep in close contact via text messages. Zhizhen was especially happy when he learned that Ljubicic watched his match against Lorenzi.

“That made me feel so good,” Zhizhen said. “Whenever I feel confused with tennis or just with life in general, he’s willing to share his experiences and advice with me. “Whether I’m winning or losing, he’s always encouraging.”

Earlier in the year, Ljubicic also managed to put Zhizhen in touch with his favourite player, Roger Federer; the pair practised in Monte Carlo. The experience will go down as one of Zhizhen’s most memorable.

“The session lasted about an hour, and he was so relaxed throughout,” Zhizhen said. “After the practice, Roger said some nice things to me, but I don’t think he really knew who I was. Ivan was nice enough to ask Roger to take a picture with me; it’s one of the best memories I have from the last year.”

#NextGenATP star Jared Donaldson recalls the time a guy stopped his car to tell him “Rock on, bro!” and shares the important question he had for his idol, Barry Bonds, whom he met on a trip to Atlantis. 

First moment I realised I loved tennis
I was six years old playing a match at my club that I grew up at. This kid was 12 or 13, way older than me, and it was an eight-game pro set. I was down 7-0 to him and I came back to beat him 9-7. My dad felt that not too many kids at that young age have that ability to stay with it and fight. I feel like maybe that was the first moment where he and I realised that I really had determination, and I feel like that’s what you need in tennis and I feel like I have that. 

First coach and the most important lesson he taught me
My first coach was Mario Llano. The most important less he taught me was to always play aggressive and hit your groundstrokes. He said don’t focus so much on the result. Obviously you want to win and fight, but don’t get caught up in the result; make sure you’re playing well. 

First pinch-me moment on the ATP World Tour?
Honestly, when I got my first [Emirates ATP Rankings] point, that was big. I feel like one of the bigger moments in my career was last year in Toronto when I beat [Fabio] Fognini in the second round. That was a really good win after coming through qualies. And also it was hot, he was playing well, he had won a tournament the week before and won a good first-round match, and I felt that it was really close. Sometimes when you’re just coming up you lose those tight matches and I was able to win it so that was really important, where I kinda thought I belong here, I can play with these guys. 

First time I was recognised
The funniest moment I was recognised outside of tennis, I was in Rhode Island on vacation two to three years ago, and there’s this place called the Coffee Exchange in Providence. I walked out of that with my sister and some dude was in his car and he stopped on the street, and he was like, “You’re Jared Donaldson!” I was like “Yeah,” and he said, “Rock on, bro! I love you!” 

First time I travelled abroad
I always used to go to Atlantis when I was young, in the Bahamas, but the first time I really travelled abroad for tennis was when I went to Argentina when I was 14 to train and live there two-and-a-half years. 

First thing I bought with prize money
I guess I’m pretty frugal, I don’t really spend a lot of money. I rented a house, I guess. That was my first big thing, where I thought I’m kinda on my own, I’m living in a house. 

First autograph I got
Barry Bonds. I was five or six years old, at Atlantis. He was actually my idol growing up. I got an earring because of him. I walked up to Barry Bonds, it was the year after he broke the season record for home runs, and I asked him what it was like hitting all those home runs. He just smiled and said it felt really good. 

First celebrity crush
(long pause) That’s a tough one! This is more recent, I probably had a crush on someone when I was younger I don’t remember, but I’ll say Jennifer Lawrence. She’s a good actress, she’s good-looking, so I’ll say J.Law. 

First album I bought
‘Curtain Call’ by Eminem 

First pet
Midnight, my cat. I was in second grade.