Mantilla Stops Federer in Rome
TELECOM ITALIA MASTERS ROMA, MAY 11, 2003
Mantilla Stops Federer in Rome
Felix Mantilla became the first unseeded player to win the Telecom Italia
Masters in Rome since Australia's Martin Mulligan in 1963 when he defeated
the in-form Roger Federer at the Foro Italico.
Mantilla's 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(8) victory in 2 hours, 41 minutes earned the Spaniard
his first Tennis Masters Series shield and his 10th career ATP title - his
first since Palermo in 2001.
The 28-year-old from Barcelona, who moves up to sixth position in the ATP
Champions Race 2003, became the fifth Spaniard to win the title alongside
Manuel Orantes (1972), Emilio Sanchez (1991), Alex Corretja (1997) and Juan
Carlos Ferrero (2001).
Mantilla was taken to the final set in four of his previous five matches en
route to his 21st career ATP final, as he defeated No. 11 seed David
Nalbandian, Mardy Fish, No. 7 seed Albert Costa, Ivan Ljubicic and Yevgeny
Kafelnikov.
Playing in his first Tennis Masters Series final since losing to Andrei
Medvedev in Hamburg in 1997, Mantilla saved 14 of 17 break points against him
during the match, breaking Federer's serve six times. After taking the first
set, Mantilla found himself 2-0 down in the second before winning the next
eight games to lead 2-0 in the third.
Federer, who was on a 12-match winning streak dating back to the quarterfinals
at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami (l. to Costa), was seeking his fourth title of
the year following his victories in Marseille, Dubai and Munich. He is now an
ATP-best 36-7 for the season as he begins the defense of his Tennis Masters
Hamburg title next week.
The 21-year-old from Basel, who lies in third position in the ATP Champions
Race 2003, became the first Swiss player to reach the final in Rome with
victories over Paul-Henri Mathieu, Mariano Zabaleta, Tommy Robredo, Italian
wild card Filippo Volandri and No. 2 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, who retired
with tendinitis in his right shoulder with Federer leading 6-2, 4-2 (30-0).
Earlier in the tournament, top seed and defending champion Andre Agassi lost
only his second match of the year to Spain's David Ferrer in the first round,
while Volandri became the first Italian to reach the quarterfinals at the
Foro Italico since Andrea Gaudenzi in 1996.
What the Players Said:
Mantilla: "[Rome] has given me so much, the feelings I have right now after
winning this title I will never forget for the rest of my life. It is a Tennis
Masters Series event, and for sure it's the biggest victory of my career. That
is going to give me a lot of confidence for the future. I'm mentally strong.
And I hope that makes me work harder - if it's possible - and try to do
something else in tennis.
"I was working hard on my physical training, and my coach told me that I was
playing unbelievable since the first week of the year. That makes me feel well
on court. For me, it's important just to believe that I can be strong out
there. And after, when I start the clay court season, I lost in Monte Carlo
against Ferrero, again, 7-5 in the third. After, he won the tournament. I was
really close. I said, 'Okay, why not? If I could beat Ferrero, maybe I am the
winner in Monte-Carlo.' Today, it happened. I was really strong mentally. When
I am like that, I think it is very difficult to beat me because I am there
every point and hitting the ball hard.
"I change the racquet in Monte-Carlo. That gave me more power in my shots in
the baseline. And with that, I am feeling more comfortable."
On his on court speech when he broke down in tears: "I couldn't speak. The
third [thank you] was to my other coach, that he was with me almost 11 years.
His name is Jordi Vilaro. He was with me during my career. At one stage I
said, 'I must change something because, you know, we know each other a lot.'
I said, 'I need another motivation.' It was really hard to stop with him
because he's my second father for me because he shows me the way to humility
and to be humble, and just to have respect for everybody. And that is very
important for me just to remember the people who were with you always. And
was my family, my girlfriend, and the three guys."
Federer: "I'm happy I was the first Swiss player in the Rome final and I'm
happy with my tournament here. [Mantilla] beat a lot of good players this week
and deserved to win this title.
"I missed too many chances in the first set, I don't know how many breakpoints
I had. It's a real shame. After a while everything was going his way, I almost
felt he was destined to win this tournament."
"It's always terrible when a match starts this way. You don't win your break
point out of one of the first five or so, it gets to your head mentally. I
always played well 'till the break points, then I felt like I didn't understand
why, you know, because I thought I was staying aggressive. And it just didn't
go my way. To have to lose the set the way I did, you know, is very
disappointing. Also, I'm leading in the second and the third and I lose all
the sets. So this match has been extremely disappointing in that respect."
Arthurs-Hanley Capture Rome Doubles Crown
Australia's Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley claimed their second title of the
year together when they defeated Australian Open champions Michael Llodra and
Fabrice Santoro 6-1, 6-3 to win the Telecom Italia Masters in Rome.
Arthurs and Hanley, who also won the title in Rotterdam in February, became
the first Australian team to win in Rome since Mark Edmondson and Kim Warwick
in 1980.
It was the eighth career doubles title for Arthurs, and his second in a Tennis
Masters Series tournament following his victory in Hamburg in 1999 with Andrew
Kratzmann. For Hanley, it was his fourth ATP title and third of the year after
winning in Sydney with fellow countryman Nathan Healey in January.
"It's very nice to win a second Tennis Masters Series title, and again with an
Australian," said Arthurs. "It's good to do it again."
Hanley added: "I didn't realize until the end of the match that the score was
so easy. It's nice to win by any score especially against such a strong team."
--
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