Feb. 9, 2012

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - University of San Diego sophomore tennis player Clarke Spinosa has wasted little time in making his mark on the Torero tennis program. As a freshman in 2010-11, Spinosa became the third Torero to win West Coast Conference freshman of the year honors and established USD's best dual record by a freshman (21-3), while also tying the team record for most overall singles wins by a freshman (28). We sat down with Spinosa during an off-week to get to know him a little better.

USD: How did you get involved in tennis and what is it that has kept you interested in it?

Clarke Spinosa: My dad actually got me into tennis. I started playing around four years old and I really like competing. I played a lot of sports when I was younger and chose tennis around the age of 10 and decided to just stick with that. But my dad was a big tennis advocate and my mom get into it and my sisters- it's a great sport to play to grow closer to the family.

USD: What are some of your career highlights both at USD and your high school/junior days?

CS: Here, it would probably be winning the (WCC) freshman of the year award. That was pretty special. But as a team, definitely making it to the NCAA tournament last year and winning the West Coast Conference. I mean, those were some special things that hadn't been done here in a really long time.

USD: After being named WCC freshman of the year last season, what expectations do you have for yourself this season?

CS: Some pretty high expectations. I had a really good season last year and the whole team had a really good year, so it's tough to come back and just continue that. We were undefeated at home so we're going to have some tough matches at home this year against Cal and Pepperdine so it's going to be a lot tougher. As you get better as a team, you're going to be facing tougher teams and you want to have even higher goals, you don't just want to stay the same.

CS: Right now it's business finance. A couple of my dad's friends had done finance and I'm interested in possibly taking an internship with them over the summer and kind of seeing where I want to go from there.

USD: What attracted you to USD when you were deciding on where to go to college?

CS: My parents definitely liked the smaller school atmosphere, it's definitely easier to get to know your professors and have a lot of one-on-one time if you need it. Also, I really liked how (head coach) Brett (Masi) came from USC. He had just won a national championship so he knows a lot and I really liked the school and the area. The school's amazing, San Diego's awesome.

USD: What are your most & least favorite parts of training and getting in shape for tennis?

CS: My most favorite part is that now it's a team atmosphere. Before it was just about me on the court by myself and sometimes it could be pretty monotonous. But now it's a lot more fun because you get to compete against your own team. You get to mess around in practice and have fun but at the same time get better. My least favorite thing... I definitely hate the four-minute drill. It's a drill where we're just hitting back-and-forth for four straight minutes and we switch off. It's a good drill, you get to keep moving. It's good if you're a little rusty or something, but I never really enjoy that drill.

USD: When you're not playing or going to class, what are some of the things you like to do?

CS: Basically our (dorm) room has become a hangout and it's basically on average seven or eight of the guys in our room at once. It's usually playing FIFA or wrestling. We usually find some random activities to keep us busy.

USD: Who are some of the people that motivate or inspire you?

CS: In the sport of tennis, I'd say Roger Federer. You look up to him. You look up to all the top tennis players, Roger especially because he's got such class about him on the court. You know, he's so good and even when he's down he doesn't get angry. He doesn't pump himself up that much, he's always just so calm and it's just almost robotic how amazing he is. In others, I definitely enjoy watching Kobe (Bryant) play... He's just got some mad skills. I'm definitely a Los Angeles Lakers fan, as a side note.

USD: If you had the chance to live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

CS: If I could just spend a couple of years somewhere, it would definitely be somewhere in Europe... somewhere different. The U.S. is great, but I would just like to travel in general. We have a lot of Europeans on the team and just to see where they're from and get a whole different atmosphere.

USD: What is a personal motto or philosophy that you like to live your life by?

CS: I'm really obsessed with a YouTube video right now. It's called "How Bad Do You Want It?" It's a motivational video about this guy giving a speech about how this guy goes to a guru and wants to be successful. Tell people to watch the video because it's become kind of a team thing. When I was playing my match against Texas Tech, Emilio (Mora) was screaming, "How bad do you want it!" It's a pretty inspirational video.