Filippo Volandri (Italian pronunciation:[fiˈlippovoˈlandri]; born 5 September 1981) is a former Italian professional male tennis player. Volandri reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 25 in July 2007. He turned professional in 1997 and earned almost $4 million in prize money.
2007: Success at the Rome Masters and French Openedit
At the Rome Masters in 2007 Volandri, having entered as a wild card, recorded the biggest win of his career by beating the then world no. 1 Roger Federer in straight sets 6–2, 6–4.[2] Volandri celebrated by doing a lap of honour around centre court, high-fiving spectators in the front rows.[3]
Volandri hailed the victory as not only for himself, but for Italy, speaking of both the regard in which Federer, who holds the record for the longest streak as the world's top-ranked male player, is held, and the relative under-achievement of Italy in men's tennis at the time.[citation needed] For his part Federer offered few excuses for his out-of-character display.[2] 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 world no. 12 Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinal.[citation needed] The win meant that Volandri became the first Italian to reach the event's semifinals since 1978. His run stopped in the semifinals when he lost to Fernando González.
At the 2007 French Open he was the 29th seed and made it to the fourth round, rising to No. 27 in the world in the rankings.
Volandri struggled greatly after the dropped match-fixing allegations. In 2017, he reached the final of the 2012 Brasil Open. He mainly competed on the ATP Challenger Tour.
Volandri came under suspicion for betting and match fixing, and his name featured prominently in a list compiled by the ATP of matches under suspicion for corruption.[5]
In January 2009, Volandri received a three-month ban from the ATP for a doping offence after testing positive for salbutamol during the Indian Wells tournament.[6] Volandri had a medical exemption from the International Tennis Federation to use salbutamol, an asthma medication, but the ITF deemed that his use of the drug was beyond therapeutic needs. His suspension was to last until 14 April 2009 and required him to forfeit all prize money and ranking points earned from the date of the failed test until the beginning of his suspension.[7]
In March 2009, the Court of Arbitration for Sport overruled the ATP decision and ruled that Volandri should be reinstated and that his forfeited ranking points and earnings returned to him. Volandri stated that he intended to sue the ATP over the incident.[8]
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Italy
