Filippo Volandri claimed the first ATP title of his
career after defeating Xavier Malisse in the final of the Raiffeisen Grand Prix
in St Polten, Austria.
The Italian, ranked 61st in the world before this tournament, was seeded
eighth for this event and made light work of the Belgian, winning 6-1 6-4.
The victory allows Volandri, a clay-court specialist, to head for next week's
French Open at Roland Garros full of confidence.
He overcame Tomas Berdych, Raemon Sluiter, Victor Hanescu and David Sanchez
before defeating Malisse to take the title.
Malisse, too, can be pleased with his showing.
The Belgian, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist, was unseeded but rediscovered
some of his best form to beat Karol Beck, Hugo Armando, Daniel Koellerer and
Jurgen Melzer en route to the final.
"I feel unbelievably good," Volandri said.
"I felt very emotional, feeling really good.
"I played unbelievable tennis for an hour and then maybe relaxed too much.
"Finally in the last two games I found everything I had to win two great
games."
The 22-year-old Volandri was runner-up to Carlos Moya at Umag last year in his
only prior final.
He could face Moya in the second round at next week's French Open, if he gets
by French wild card Olivier Patience.
"It's not a bad draw in Paris, it could be worse," Volandri said.
"I'm in good shape, and feeling good, so hopefully I can do good things."
Malisse is 0-5 lifetime in championship matches on tour.
He fell to 11-12 at the ATP level in 2004.
"I think he deserved it," Malisse said.
"I didn't play bad at all, I felt pretty good, the balls were going slow a
little a bit, but he played some tremendous tennis and I think he deserves
it."
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