Filippo Volandri News

ROME (AP) _ Roger Federer lost to Italian wild card Filippo Volandri 6-2, 6-4 Thursday in the third round of the Rome Masters, extending his title drought to four straight tournaments. The top-ranked Federer last won at the Dubai Tennis Championships in March. He has since failed to win at Indian Wells, California; Key Biscayne, Florida; Monte Carlo, Monaco; and Rome. It's the worst stretch of Federer's career since becoming ...

Nicolas Lapentti beat Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-2, 6-1 on Saturday to reach the final of the Campionati Internazionali di Sicilia. Lapentti broke the eighth-seeded Spaniard six times and won 95 per cent of points on his own first serve, to win in one hour two minutes. The 30-year-old Ecuadorean, who was once ranked sixth, will play second-seeded Filippo Volandri in Sunday's final. Volandri advanced to his third straight Palermo ...

Second-seeded Filippo Volandri will play fourth-seeded Nicolas Almagro in the semifinals of the clay-court Palermo International. Volandri defeated Martin Vassallo Arguello 6-2, 6-2 Friday, and Almagro beat Albert Montanes 6-4, 6-2. In the other semifinal on Saturday, unseeded Nicolas Lapentti will play eighth-seeded Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, who beat Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4. Lapentti cruised past third-seeded Gilles Simon 6-0, 6-1.

The four top seeds _ Fernando Verdasco, Filippo Volandri, Gilles Simon and Nicolas Almagro _ advanced to the quarter-finals of the clay-court Campionati Internazionali di Sicilia on Thursday. Top-seeded Verdasco of Spain defeated Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-2 in the second round. He next plays eighth-seeded countryman Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, who eliminated Italian wild-card Gianluca Naso 6-2, 6-2. Volandri of Italy, the No. 2 seed, beat Argentine ...

Top-seeded Fernando Verdasco rallied past Daniele Bracciali 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 Wednesday at the clay-court Palermo International. Second-seeded Filippo Volandri topped Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3, and wild-card Gianluca Naso advanced when Jiri Vanek retired with a lower back injury while leading 2-1 in the first set. In other matches, Nicolas Lapentti upset Paul-Henri Mattieu 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; Mariano Zabaleta defeated Olivier Patience 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; and Frantisek Cermak topped ...

Jurgen Melzer won his first ATP title by beating Filippo Volandri 6-1, 7-5 Sunday in the final of the BCR Open. Melzer served well and came to the net often. He broke Volandri's serve twice in the first set. Volandri improved in the second set, but Melzer broke to lead 6-5 and served it out. ``I knew Volandri is a great baseliner,'' Melzer said. ``I served much better, I put ...

Fifth-seeded Filippo Volandri of Italy will play Jurgen Melzer of Austria in the final of the BCR Open Romania tournament. Volandri beat second-seeded Florent Serra 7-6 (6), 6-4 Saturday, while Melzer advanced when eighth-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu had to retire after losing the first set 6-4 because of a right ankle sprain. ``I felt bad this morning and during the match,'' said Mathieu, who injured his ankle on Thursday. Volandri won a close tiebreaker in the first set, and made ...