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Volandri Wins Homecountry Palermo Crown
Posted on October 2, 2006
Italian Filippo Volandri erased the pain of two consecutive past defeats in the Palermo final when he rallied from a set down to defeat Nicolas Lapentti 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 to win his first title at the Campionati Internazionali Di Sicilia Sunday.
"I wanted this win so much," Volandri said. "This was my third final in a row here and maybe one of the last occasions to win this tournament."
Volandri had lost the prior two years in the Palermo final to Igor Andreev in the 2005 final and Tomas Berdych in the 2004 final.
For the third time during the event Volandri needed three sets to win, and it marked the second time he had to come from a set down following his second-round win over Sergio Roitman.
"I was very nervous at the beginning, trying to find my game," added Volandri. "Today I felt better physically, during the last days I was suffering because I caught a cold."
The Ecuadorian veteran Lapentti, who ranked as high as No. 6 in 1999, was appearing in his first final since 2003 in Bastad (l. Zabaleta). The last of his five career titles came in St. Poelten in 2002 (d. Vicente).
Said Lapentti: "Besides losing today, I'm very happy with my performance during this week and also during last week. Nobody expected me to suddenly come back like this. I've been number 110 and now I'll be back in Top 70. I can go back home very calm and satisfied now, with a lot of motivation for the end of the season and next year."
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