Rome Masters Success
At the Rome Masters in 2007 Volandri, having entered as a wild card, recorded the biggest win of his career by dispatching world number one Roger Federer in straight sets 6–2, 6–4. Volandri celebrated by doing a lap of honour around centre court, high-fiving spectators in the furthest-forward rows.
Afterwards Volandri hailed the victory as not only for himself but for Italy, telling something of the regard in which Federer, who holds the record for the longest spell as the world's top-ranked male player, is held. The result was all the more felt due to Italy's relative under-achievement on the men's tennis scene in recent times. For his part Federer offered few excuses for the out-of-character display.
Hopes that this might be the start of Italy's re-emergence among the top nations of professional men's tennis were heightened when Volandri went on to beat highly-tipped world number 12 Tomáš Berdych 6–2, 6–3 in the quarter-final. The win meant Volandri would be the first Italian to contest the event's semi-finals since 1978. His run stopped in the semi-finals, however, as he lost to Fernando González 6–1, 6–2.
Read more about this topic: Filippo Volandri
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