Tennis Masters Series - Rome 2007
| Federer’s Pain is Volandri’s Gain in Rome Upset | |
Roger Federer’s planned assault on Roland Garros – the missing link in his three-year Grand Slam domination – suffered a serious setback Thursday with a shock 6-2, 6-4 loss to Italian Filippo Volandri in the third round of the Internazionali BNL D’Italia in Rome.In contrast to Federer’s disappointment, Volandri basked in the emotion of his finest hour. He dropped to his back after clinching match point and then indulged in a victory lap of center court, high-fiving the Italian fans who earlier had the Foro Italico rocking to chants of ‘Filippo.’ 
It is the first time that an Italian player has reached the Rome quarterfinals since Volandri himself lost to Federer in the quarters in 2003. Federer sprayed 44 unforced errors and won just six games in his heaviest defeat since losing 6-3, 6-3 to Rafael Nadal in Miami in 2004. He now has just one tournament left – next week’s Masters Series Hamburg, where he is a three-time champion - to get his clay court game back on track ahead of Roland Garros. Federer has now gone four tournaments without winning a title – the longest drought since he became ATP World No. 1 171 weeks ago. The Swiss, who lost in straight sets to arch-rival Rafael Nadal in the final of Masters Series Monte-Carlo in his only other appearance of the clay swing, put just 44 percent of first serves into play against Volandri and hit just 12 winners for the match. “I had a bad start to the match, no doubt,” Federer said. “I got broken twice. Missed my opportunities in the second game, and after that I was always running behind the score… I was the first player to arrive, so I’ve been practicing more than anybody here in Rome. My preparation was perfect. I played a good first round, so of course it’s disappointing to play like this is the second round…. “I couldn’t play my best unfortunately. Filippo played well. Let’s not forget get that. He made it hard for me. Everybody’s just talking about how I played, but he played very well. He didn’t miss much. He played very well against Gasquet, so I knew it was going to be a tough match. Give the guy some credit.” Federer has vowed to work out his problems on the practice court. And he will certainly head into Roland Garros with a different preparation. Last year in Rome he held two match points against Nadal in the fifth set of their epic five-hour final, after which both players withdrew from Hamburg. This year, Hamburg – a tournament he won in 2002, ’04 and ’05 – looms as one of Federer’s most critical tournaments of the year as he looks to emerge from his mini slump. Volandri, No. 53 in the ATP Rankings, claimed just his eighth match win of the season but the most important victory of his career. He has now reached an ATP Masters Series quarterfinal five times and will attempt to reach his first semifinal at this level when he meets Czech Tomas Berdych, a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Jose Acasuso on Thursday. An ecstatic Volandri said: “Maybe tomorrow morning when I wake up [I will believe what’s happened] because it’s the best match of my life. To beat this guy here in Rome is the biggest emotion I’ve ever felt.” Volandri’s previous best victory was over then No. 3 David Nalbandian in last year’s ATP World Team Championship in Dusseldorf. He is now 6-15 against Top 10 opponents. Since starting the season with an 1-6 mark, Volandri has compiled a 7-3 record in his last four tournaments – QF in Valencia, 1st RD in Monte-Carlo, 3rd RD in Barcelona (l. to Davydenko) and now quarterfinals in Rome. Volandri is the first Italian player to beat a No. 1 in a completed match since Adriano Panatta beat Jimmy Connors in the 1975 Stockholm final (Gianluca Pozzi defeated then No. 1 Andre Agassi at 2000 Queen’s, but Agassi retired at 4-6, 3-2…). The last Italian player in the Rome semifinals was Adriano Panatta in 1978 (lost to Bjorn Borg in the final). |
