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Giovanni Lapentti Webpage |
Giovanni Lapentti Index
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24 September 2004 Giovanni beat American, Rajeev Ram in the second round, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 and now plays Nico's doubles partner Hugo Armando in the quarter finals. If both Nico and Giovanni win on Friday, they will face each other officially for the first time in ATP competition at the semi final stage. 23 September 2004 - Louisiana Challenger News Giovanni and Nico are both currently competing in the Smith Barney Challenger in Covington, Louisiana where they are number two and three seeds respectively. Giovanni beat Jacob Adaktusson in the first round 6-3, 6-1 and will play American, Rajeev Ram in the second round. 14 September 2004 - Giovanni becomes No.1 Although neither Nico or Giovanni have been successful on court lately, the ranking places have been getting closer and closer and this week, Giovanni went above his brother for the first time as Nicolas lost points he gained during the US Open from 2003.
17 March 2004 - Mexico City Challenger Update Giovanni is currently competing in the Mexico City Challenger where he is seeded 7. In the first round, he beat Alex Calatrava 6-1, 6-4 and his next opponent will be Florian Mayer from Germany. After Mexico, Giovanni will try to qualify for the Nasdaq 100 Open before returning to Ecuador to play in the Salinas Challenger where he is due to be seeded 1. Then he will join Nico and the rest of team Ecuador in Vina Del Mar to play Davis Cup. 13 March 2004 - Giovanni's performance in First Round in Indian Wells After reaching the main draw, Giovanni produced more than a respectable performance against American Taylor Dent. Giovanni took the first set 6-1 and looked like he would join his brother in the second round. However, Dent has become a much better player in the last year and came back to take the second and third sets, both by the score 6-4 so Giovanni's first TMS event comes to an end. He will have another chance to reach the main draw in Miami starting 22 March before he returns to Ecuador to try to defend his Salinas Challenger title. 11 March 2004 - Giovanni won through qualifying draw in TMS event Giovanni won his two matches to take his place in the main draw of his first TMS event in Indian Wells - the first TMS event of 2004. He managed to beat Dusan Vemic and Petr Kralert without losing a set (6-2, 6-4 and 6-0, 6-2 respectively). Giovanni takes his place in the main draw and will play Taylor Dent in the first round. 4 March 2004 - Acapulco Update Giovanni took his place in the main draw in Acapulco, Mexico without having to hit a ball in qualification action after several players ranked slightly above him pulled out before the draw. However, that is where the luck ran out: he drew Mariano Zabaleta from Argentina in the first round; Zabaleta was the runner up in 2003. Although Giovanni took the opening set of their contest, he was not able to continue the pressure and allowed Zabaleta to come back and win in 3 sets. 23 February 2004 - Costa di Saupe Update Giovanni failed to win through the qualifying draw in Brazil. 18 February 2004 - Giovanni plays Chela in Buenos Aires After winning through the qualifying draw in Buenos Aires, Giovanni was drawn against Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela in the first round. After putting up a tremendous fight in the first set when he was twice a break up, Giovanni ran out of steam at the end of the first set and then was brushed aside in the second set 7-5, 6-0 - this came after Nico's defeat earlier that day against Juan Monaco. February 2004 - Vina Del Mar Update Giovanni failed to win through the qualifying draw in Vina Del Mar, Chile but he did manage to get several days practice on the courts at the same club where Davis Cup will take place in April, as Nico reached the final in the doubles with Martin Rodriquez. 16 January 2004 - Giovanni fails to reach Melbourne main draw Giovanni failed to get through his first qualifying match in Melbourne against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez after losing in 3 sets. Unfortunately, the Spaniard did not benefit too much from this victory as he then lost his next match. 11 January 2004 - Giovanni plays the Sydney qualifying competition Giovanni got some extra match practice in the qualifying event for the Adidas International in Sydney. He won his first match against Davide Sanguinetti but lost the second against Galo Blanco. Giovanni will be playing the qualifying event for the Australian Open starting on Wednesday 14th. 4 January 2004 - Giovanni fails to qualify in Adelaide Giovanni began his 2004 ATP year in the qualifying competition in Adelaide over the past weekend. Unfortunately he failed to get through the first round when he was beaten by Alexander Peya from Austria 6-4, 6-1. Better luck next week in the Australian Open qualifying competition at Melbourne Park. 1 January 2004 - Giovanni parts company with coach Andres Gomez broke the news that Giovanni had parted company with his long term coach, Raul Viver. Viver is also the Ecuador Davis Cup captain so Giovanni will no doubt be conversing with Raul again once the players meet up again at the end of March to prepare for their Davis Cup tie vs either Peru or Chile at the start of April. Giovanni's new coach will be Patricio Rodriguez - who everyone will no doubt have remembered used to coach brother Nicolas and also some years ago, cousin Andres Gomez. 30 December 2003 - Giovanni wins MatchPoint Award After Nicolas won the inaugral Player of the Year award from MatchPoint magazine in 2002, Giovanni continued the family tradition by winning the 2003 award. Giovanni certainly deserved his award after claiming 4 challenger titles during the last 12 months (equal with French sensation Richard Gasquet) as well as claiming brilliant victories against Rios and Garmonal during the Davis Cup tie against Chile in February. November 2003 - 4th Challenger Title of 2003 Giovanni capped off his 2003 campaign with another Challenger title. Victories over Hermes Garmonal, Kevin Kim, Ramon Delgado and Andre Sa helped Giovanni along to his 45h final of the year against American Paul Goldstein. The semi final was perhaps the most difficult match of the week because it had to be settled by a third and final set tie break which Giovanni won 7-5, but this was only after he let a final set advantage break get away from him. From the Waco Tribunal website: "PG knew almost from the start that GL was going to be a big trouble. With the emphasis on big. Early in the final, Paul Goldstein was heard to "It feels like he's 7 foot tall" and Giovanni (who is actually only 6'4") looked it." The final was one of Giovanni's most complete performance of his career as he dominated Goldstein with his overpowering serve, a deft touch at the net and lots of confidence to take victory 6-4, 6-3. Of his performance Giovanni said "Today I could think very clearly and knew exactly what I wanted to do on every point. I just played so relaxed and had so much peach inside me." Giovanni only slipped up on 11 points in 10 service games which showed just how much improvement he has made. Goldstein said "The story of the match was his serve and my inability to do anything with it." The trouble was the Giovanni played shots with a 'high kick' and this Goldstein into a permanently defensive position well behind the baseline which prompted GL to pull out another weapon - the drop shot - and he used it to great effect, winning at least 6 points with it in the first set. Goldstein was permanently on the run. From there it was just a matter of how GL would handle the pressure. In the final game he almost knocked the racket out of Goldstein's hand with a service winner for match point, then finished it with a backhand pass up the line." Before the final Giovanni had been introduced to the crowd as Veronelli Lapentti - this gaffe cracked up Giovanni and his team (Raul and Hermes) courtside and served to lighten his mood. October 2003 - Quito Challenger Victory for Giovanni After the misery of falling just short of victory in the 5th rubber match against Razvan Sabau in Davis Cup against Romania, Giovanni vowed to return to Ecuador's capital city just two weeks later to win the Challenger event, - where he reached the final in 2002. And he did just that. In the first round, a straight sets victory over Jose De Armas turned defeat in Davis Cup in April to success. There followed two victories over Mexican youngsters - Santiago Gonzalez and Alejandro Hernandez. In the semi finals, Giovanni beat American Glenn Weiner to set up a final against Brasilian Ricardo Mello. It was certainly no easy match as Mello's confidence was very high - he also reached the doubles final. The first set went Giovanni's way 6-3 and the crowd's support went some way to lead the home player to victory. However, Mello took the second set on a tie break (but only after a battle 12-10). Giovanni's reached another confidence high during the third set and eventually served out for victory 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 to win his third Challenger for the year. September 2003 - Davis Cup misery For the first time in 2003, it was played 3, lost 3 in Davis Cup for Giovanni. However it was not for the want of trying. The Davis Cup has been recorded the longest in history in games since the tie break was brought in. Every rubber went the distance - so that was 25 sets in 5 rubbers and Giovanni certainly did not give up. In the first rubber when Giovanni was up against Victor Hanescu, the first four sets went to tie breaks and there was not a single break of serve until right at the very end of the match when the Romanian (just as tall as Giovanni) used his experience to win. In doubles it was the same story but this time with brother Nicolas with him, and in the final singles rubber Giovanni had to come back from 2 sets to 1 down to force a 5th, and final 25th set on the 4th day - a Monday in front of a capcaity cheering crowd but it was just not enough. Eventually Sabau managed to claim his victory to take Romania back into the World Group for 2004 and leave Ecuador in the American Zone 1 for another year. July 2003 - Challenger Singles and Doubles Victory in Brazil After the summer in Europe, Giovanni returned to South America to take part in the Campos Do Jordao Challenger in Brazil. In 2002 he had won the doubles event so this tournament held special memories. This year he won the double - both the singles and doubles events to underline his growing confidence and ability. Two straight sets victories over Andres Pedroso (USA) and Pedro Braga (Bra) was followed by a three sets win over Andrew Anderson from South Africa. In his last two matches, Giovanni lost only 11 games to score a semi final victory over Miguel Gallardo Valles 6-4, 6-3 and the final 6-4, 6-0 against Gouichi Motomura from Japan. In the doubles, Giovanni was partnered by Rik De Voest from South Africa and the partnership won the tournament without losing a set, beating Berlocq and Gallardo Valles in the final. June 2003 - First Grand Slam Doubles with Nico at Wimbledon If Roland Garros was a first in singles, then Wimbledon was a first for Giovanni in doubles. It was the first time he was able to play doubles in the main draw with brother Nicolas after the pair were awarded a wild card. And they did not disappoint. They won 2 matches against two good teams Haggard/Koenig and Kerr/Prieto, each time in 4 sets before they lost out to Leander Paes and David Rikl at the last 16 stage, again in 4 sets. Giovanni missed out on an entry into the singles draw by just one match when he lost out in his third qualifying match in a fifth set shoot out. There is always next year! May 2003 - First Grand Slam Main Draw Singles Place Roland Garros 2003 was the first time that two players from Ecuador had reached the singles draw since the time of Andres Gomez and Nico and Giovanni both had a lot of pride when they stepped on court during the first days action. Fortunately they were not scheduled to play at the same time so Nico was able to cheer for his brother courtside during the opening games of Giovanni's match against seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo. Giovanni could not have started better - he took the opening two sets and looked to be on course for a straight sets victory before cramp started to set in and he was eventually forced to quit during the early stages of the 4th set. April 2003 - Davis Cup doubles victory with Nico helps Ecuador into Playoffs Giovanni's confidence was at another high at the start of the Davis Cup against Venezuela at the seaside resort of Salinas - especially after the challenger victory just a fortnight before. The heat played a negative part in Giovanni's opening singles match against Jose De Armas and although he led 2 sets to 1, Giovanni was forced to quit with heat exhaustion. Thankfully after a good night's sleep, he was fit to return to court the next day and helped Nico to inflict a straight sets victory on the Venezuelan pairing of De Armas and Szymanski and when Nico won the tie in the 4th rubber with a superb 4 sets victory over De Armas, it meant Giovanni was able to sit out the final rubber and reserve his strength for the party later that evening! March 2003 - Giovanni wins in Salinas to become the first Lapentti to win a Challenger in Ecuador Whilst brother Nico was suffering a bad time on the main ATP tour, Giovanni was able to put the Lapentti name back in the headlines by winning his first singles match on the main ATP Tour at Scottsdale. He won through the qualifying competition and his first match was against none other than the Thailand sensation Paradorn Srichaphan. Although Srichaphan was ranked inside the top 20 at the time, Giovanni was able to make him look ordinary by beating him in straight sets 7-6, 6-2 and also registered his fastest serve (126 mph - one of the fastest in history). With confidence at a high, Giovanni returned to Ecuador to win the Salinas Challenger - and becoming the first Ecuadorian to win this event. This time, Giovanni managed to win the event without losing a single set. He used his powerful serve, deft volleys and all court confidence to beat opponents - Emin Agaev, Jack Brassington, Edgardo Massa, Lars Burgsmuller and Ivan Miranda to claim victory and the $3,600 prize money. February 2003 - Giovanni managed to win both singles matches in Davis Cup vs Chile After failing to win through the qualifying draw for the Australian Open, Giovanni was able to spend loads of time preparing for Ecuador's vital Davis Cup tie against Chile. Although usually either or both these teams would have been seeded in the annual team competition, they had been overlooked after poor performances during the 2002 tournament. After Nico managed to draw first blood in the opening rubber against Garmonal, Giovanni produced a fantastic performance against Chilean superstar ex World No.1 Marcelo Rios to beat him in straight sets. He made Rios look ordinary in the 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 victory and this gave Ecuador a huge grip on the tie. Unfortunately, the boys were unable to close out the tie in the doubles even after they led by 2 sets and were 6-5 up and when Nico lost to Rios in the all important 4th rubber, it was left up to Giovanni to again play the vital 5th rubber to try to put Ecuador through to the next round. Memories of that vital 5th rubber against Great Britain came to mind! This tie was the first where Giovanni had been called upon to play all 3 rubbers and he very nearly had to retire through injury and exhaustion. Giovanni charged to a two set lead 7-6, 6-4 and everyone was very optimistic that he would win the third set. However, with all the pressure on the Chilean's shoulders he made a comeback and with Giovanni starting to feel fatigued, Garmonal won the third set on a tie break as his opponent was visually showing tiredness. Giovanni was so downhearted at the time, Raul Viver told him to leave the court and recompose himself for the fourth set. After about 10 minutes, he returned to court and somehow with a super human effort and with the backing of all his teammates, he managed to play through the pain, cramp (whatever) to keep his country in the tie. Giovanni managed to stay on level begging just through his strong serve because movement was becoming more and more impossible. Just as things were starting to look bad for Ecuador, Garmonal self destructed on serve and Giovanni took his chance, by moving to the net and broke serve to enable him to serve out the match, rubber and tie 7-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 to put Ecuador through to a tie against Venezuela in April. 2002 Summary Giovanni's 2002 season was highlighted by a five month layoff with an injury (June to October) before he returned to competitve matches at the Quito Challenger where he reached the final before losing out to Dick Norman.
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