PDL's Spencer shines for UGA tennis team

ATHENS, Ga. — Wil Spencer can tell you about the storied history of tennis in Ponce de Leon.

That’s because he virtually is the history of tennis in the laid-back, rural community just west of Bonifay. The words ‘Ponce de Leon’ appear twice in the FHSAA’s high school tennis record book, and both appearances pertain to a school of the same name located in Coral Gables and date back to 1939.

A native of Santa Rosa Beach who lived in Ponce de Leon for most of his teenage years, Spencer is a senior at the University of Georgia and has developed into one of the top collegiate players in the country. He roared back from a first-round defeat to win the consolation title at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., Nov. 3-6.

“I was born and raised there — I love it,” said Spencer, 22, when speaking about the active, outdoorsy lifestyle he enjoyed growing up in the Panhandle. “Hopefully one day I’ll move back there. I went down there on vacation this past summer. … I crossed the Florida-Alabama state line and was thinking, ‘Man, I’m home.’”

Spencer, who bounced around the Panhandle a bit growing up while living with his parents and sister, has lived a somewhat nomadic life that should serve him well during his pro career yet to come. Following a standout youth career while training, Spencer originally signed to play collegiately at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, in 2007. He competed for the Aggies for the next two years before the death of his father, William, forced him to reexamine his life. Spencer acknowledged that the loss of his father weighed heavily.

“I finished out the season … and I don’t really feel like doing this” anymore, Spencer said. “It was hard to focus and really to enjoy it. I had other stuff on my mind. I decided I was going to go home, and I took a year off. At first I thought it would be one semester. Then it turned into two semesters.”

Spencer said he was more focused on spending time with his mother, Colleen, who since has moved to North Carolina, than putting in time on the tennis court. It wasn’t until he started instructing youngsters at Emerald Coast Tennis Center in Niceville during that time away from competition that he started viewing the sport from an all-too-familiar perspective that had contorted as he grew older. The time off proved to be therapeutic, but seeing the sport through the kids’ eyes convinced him he’d taken enough time away.

“When I was teaching, I started missing it,” he said. “It was like, ‘Man, I wish I was in those kids’ shoes and the one hitting balls.’ Really, the hunger started to come back and to compete.”

Spencer desired to remain as close to his mother and sister as he could, and two colleges (Georgia and Florida) that actively recruited him as a teenager remained viable options. He ultimately elected to play for the Bulldogs.

“The coaches have a great history, and a lot of people say a lot of really good things about them and rightfully so,” Spencer said of head coach Manuel Diaz and assistant Will Glenn. “The teammates were really awesome, too. It just felt like home, the place I needed to be.”

With his feet finally rooted after his career had been cast in doubt, Spencer set out to make an immediate impact for the Bulldogs and conquer the Southeastern Conference.  The only hold-up, however, was the rust that accumulated in his game following so much time off.

“I haven’t hardly hit,” he recalled. “I haven’t hit balls the entire year, and I’ve got to get into the swing of going to school. I took summer classes and started playing tennis again. It took a little bit, but I wanted to get better. I’m super hungry for this, and I improved at a really quick rate.”

Spencer eventually captured the singles title at the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional last fall, and that propelled him into his spring season earlier this year. He was 35-13 in singles, including a team-best 17 victories over ranked opponents, and 27-11 in doubles. He captured the SEC Indoor singles crown and earned all-conference honors. His three-set win over Tennessee’s J.P. Smith clinched Georgia’s 4-3 team victory over the Volunteers in the NCAA quarterfinals, and he finished the spring season ranked 18th nationally in singles.

Spencer, who has a year of eligibility remaining, began the fall campaign ranked sixth in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. He was seeded seventh at the national indoor championships earlier this month, but he was pegged with a first-round loss when he stumbled through a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Fresno State’s Remi Boutillier.

“That match is still frustrating to me,” Spencer said. “My mind wasn’t right. I wasn’t focused. I just wasn’t prepared to play, I don’t think. I didn’t zero in. (Boutillier is) a good player, and I couldn’t just breeze by. … I don’t think I was mentally ready. I was working on new stuff in my game, trying to be more aggressive. I was taking bad shots, I just didn’t know what to do. I’m missing tons of shots, going in on bad balls, I don’t know what to do. That match made me out of sorts. A combination of that, working on new stuff — I got crushed that match.”

With his dreams of winning a national title evaporated, Spencer was tasked with playing through the consolation bracket. He rebounded with 6-2, 6-4 rout of Duke’s Chris Mengel, then posted a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Washington’s Kyle McMorrow to advance to the consolation finals. There he swept Georgia teammate Sadio Doumbia 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 to end the tournament on a positive note and point him toward the spring season.

“After I lost in the first round, I didn’t want to play the back draw,” he admitted. “It’s the loser’s bracket, the consolation bracket. But this was a chance for me to work on my game and really show what I’m made of. I lost, so what I going to do? Mope about it or go out and step up? That’s what I did. My next match I didn’t feel comfortable, but I pulled it out. After that match I started getting a little better. I was still feeling a little off, but by my last match it was so much better.”

Spencer was named one of six collegians to represent the United States in the Master’U BNP Paribas team tournament, a collection of eight teams of college players from around the world, Dec. 8-11 in Rouen, France.

He still has one year of college tennis ahead of him, and then he will turn his attention toward embarking on a professional tennis career. He’s not physically imposing on the court at 5-foot-11, but his athleticism allows him to reach balls that others cannot and forces opponents to make extra shots to win points. He said there are specific aspects of his game that must improve, however, if he wants to make a living in the sport.

“Get a bigger serve is first,” he said, adding that he needs to improve at the net and turn his backhand into a weapon. “Higher-level guys like (Novak) Djokovic — well, not just him but all the guys — have good returns. If you have a weaker serve, they will jump on it and take advantage of the opportunity. … My forehand is pretty solid, that one’s money. My movement is very good, too.”

While the allure of a pro career awaits him, Spencer doesn’t sound like a person ready to give up the college experience just yet.

“I’ve loved college tennis,” he said. “It’s been unbelievable. … It gives you a chance to grow, to mature, to get stronger. You get to work with a trainer, you’ve got some unbelievable coaches. You play in front of your home crowd, your teammates. I love it, and I know I’m going to miss it. But I am looking forward to a new chapter. This has been a training ground for my future. I got to experience this, and I get to use the stuff I’ve learned and those experiences to help me afterward.”