Come to Papa
Oklahoma tennis player and Edmond native Spencer Papa begins his postseason run for the Big 12 Championship in Stillwater on Friday as one of the best young players in the country.
NORMAN — Spencer Papa left Oklahoma never expecting to come back. He was moving to Florida. He was going to a tennis academy. He was planning to launch a pro career. He was only 13. Sometimes, when you’re young, things don’t always work out like you expect.
But that doesn’t mean they didn’t work out at all for the kid from Edmond.
Papa is back in Oklahoma, where he first learned the game and where he now plays for OU. Not only is he one of the best players for one of the best college programs in the country, a team that starts its postseason run Friday at the Big 12 Championships in Stillwater, but he is also one of the best young players in the country.
Papa is excited about the next few weeks of the college season — and about the next few years of his career.
“I feel like I’ve improved here,” he said as he sat courtside at OU’s tennis facility before afternoon practice earlier this week. “I think it’s going to help me if I want to play at the next level.”
Even if this wasn’t the path he expected to take when he made the decision to move from Oklahoma to Florida.
Papa, who started playing tennis when he was 5 and learned the game from his dad, realized he had big potential when he was only 8. That was the year he could start playing regional tournaments in the United States Tennis Association Missouri Valley, and even though he had to play in the 10-and-under category, he dominated. He was undefeated. By the time Papa was 10, he was practicing and training against high school players just to be challenged. He hadn’t outgrown the Oklahoma tennis scene, but he was getting close.
Then after winning the hardcourt national title when he was 12, Papa got a call from the USTA inviting him to move to its national training center in Boca Raton, Fla.
Papa and his parents, Todd and Stephanie, thought long and hard about their decision. They knew it was a risk to have a young boy move half way across the country, but they knew staying in Oklahoma could be a risk, too. Would Spencer be missing out on a life-changing opportunity? Could he plateau in a state and region that is light on topflight tennis?
“As tough a decision as it was,” Papa said, “I ended up making that decision to go.”
The first two years, Papa was alone in Florida. His parents and brother stayed in Oklahoma while he lived with half a dozen other boys his age at the training center. They were on the court two hours in the morning, then would spend time doing school work at the center, then would return to the court in the afternoon. There were tough days. “Oh, yeah,” Papa said. “Of course. I’m missing my friends and family and stuff like that. Almost like going to college at a young age.”
His mom said, “I was a mess. A lot of traveling back and forth.”
Being apart was so tough that two years later, the entire family relocated to Florida. Sold the house in Edmond. Left behind family and friends. Set up shop in Boca.
By that point, Spencer also seemed headed toward the pro career he’d always wanted. He was competing in international tournaments in Brazil and Chile, Italy and France. He was winning some of them, too.
“You’re training like a professional to be a professional,” said Sooner coach John Roddick, who himself experienced life at a training center as a young player. “It’s a high-pressure place.”
But Papa was succeeding in that environment. He climbed as high as 15th in the International Tennis Federation’s world rankings for players under 18.
A sponsor even stepped forward, offering to help fund Papa’s costly entry into the professional ranks.
Papa decided he wasn’t ready. Physically, yes. Mentally? He knew the grind from having been at the training center. Yes, he went there with the goal of going pro, but in the end, it opened his eyes to the reality that he wasn’t quite ready.
That led Papa back to Oklahoma.
After initially committing to Tulsa, he switched to OU. It was quite a catch for the Sooners — Papa was widely considered the top recruit in the nation — and since arriving in Norman in January of 2015, he has made a steady climb. He started at the No. 5 singles spot, but now, he plays either No. 2 and 3 and seems on a trajectory to No. 1.
“I’d be surprised if he wasn’t, as long as he keeps taking care of his business,” Roddick said, adding that the 6-foot-2 Papa has a big game that draws on a deep well of experience. “He isn’t intimidated by playing top guys. He’s definitely got the game and the ability to do it.”
The goal of playing professionally remains for Papa, but now, he sees college tennis as the means to that end. The competition is high. The training is good. The opportunity is grand.
No, this wasn’t how Spencer Papa planned for his tennis career to go, but he doesn’t see returning to Oklahoma as a step back in his journey. Quite the opposite. “Definitely a big stepping stone.”