Nicolás Lapentti

Nicolás Lapentti

Country	Ecuador
Residence	Miami, Florida
Born	(1976-08-13) August 13, 1976 (age 35) Guayaquil, Ecuador
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)
Turned pro	1995
Retired	January 18, 2011
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$6,148,511
Singles
Career record	317–287 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	5
Highest ranking	No. 6 (November 22, 1999)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	SF (1999)
French Open	4R (2000)
Wimbledon	QF (2002)
US Open	3R (2001)
Doubles
Career record	153–159 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 32 (May 10, 1999)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	QF (1999, 2001, 2003)
French Open	QF (1998)
Wimbledon	3R (2003)
US Open	3R (2003)
Last updated on: April 9, 2012.

Nicolás Alexander Lapentti Gómez (born August 13, 1976 in Guayaquil) is a former professional tennis player from Ecuador. He is Andrés Gómez's nephew.

Beginnings

Lapentti began playing tennis at the age of six.

He first came to the tennis world's attention an outstanding junior player who won the Orange Bowl in Florida in 1994, when he also captured the junior doubles titles at the French Open (partnering with Gustavo Kuerten) and the US Open.

Professional

Lapentti turned professional in 1995 and won his first top-level singles title later that year at Bogotá.

In 1999, Lapentti was a semi-finalist at the Australian Open. He also won two tour singles titles that year and reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 6 that November.

In 2002, Lapentti won his fifth tour singles title at St Pölten, beating Fernando Vicente in straight sets in the final. In the second round of that tournament, his rival, Irakli Labadze, faced four match points but was not able to convert any of them. Lapentti finally won that tough match 5/7, 7/6(1), 7–6(6).

His brother, Giovanni, is also a professional tennis player, reaching a career-high singles ranking of World No. 110 in May 2005. In addition, another brother, Leonardo, has been active at the lower levels of professional tennis.

In the Cincinnati Open 2008, Lapentti defeated David Ferrer in second round, Fernando Verdasco in the third round and faced No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals where he lost in straight sets. With that victory over Lapentti, Nadal clinched the World No. 1 ranking for the first time.

In his last participation in a Grand Slam, he unfortunately had to retire against Novak Djokovic in the first round of the 2009 French Open.

Davis Cup

He has also been a member of the Ecuador Davis Cup team since 1993. Representing his country in Davis Cup since he was 17, and won the deciding rubber against Great Britain (July 2000) to put Ecuador in the World Group.

Personal

Set up the Nicolás Lapentti Foundation in late 2000 to help bring tennis to the underprivileged, and develop future champions. Other interests include soccer and reading Robert Ludlum books.

Career finals

Singles: 12 (5–7)

Wins (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	September 11, 1995	Bogotá, Colombia	Clay	Miguel Tobón	2–6, 6–1, 6–4
2.	August 16, 1999	Indianapolis, United States	Hard	Vincent Spadea	4–6, 6–4, 6–4
3.	October 18, 1999	Lyon, France	Carpet (i)	Lleyton Hewitt	6–3, 6–2
4.	July 23, 2001	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Albert Costa	1–6, 6–4, 7–5, 7–5
5.	May 20, 2002	St. Pölten, Austria	Clay	Fernando Vicente	7–5, 6–4

Runner-ups (7)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	9 September 1996	Bogotá, Colombia	Clay	Thomas Muster	7–6(6), 2–6, 3–6
2.	27 October 1997	Bogotá, Colombia	Clay	Francisco Clavet	3–6, 3–6
3.	5 July 1999	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Albert Costa	6–7(4), 3–6, 4–6
4.	9 October 2000	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Sjeng Schalken	4–6, 6–3, 1–6
5.	11 February 2002	Viña del Mar, Chile	Clay	Fernando González	3–6, 7–6(5), 6–7(4)
6.	7 July 2003	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Mariano Zabaleta	3–6, 4–6
7.	25 September 2006	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Filippo Volandri	7–5, 1–6, 3–6

Doubles: 7 (3–4)

Wins (3)

1997—Amsterdam, Mexico City; 1999—Adelaide

Runner-ups (4)

1996—Bogotá; 1997—Santiago; 1999—Prague; 2004—Viña del Mar

Performance timelines

Singles

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nicolás Lapentti

• Official website (Spanish)
• Nicolás Lapentti at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Nicolás Lapentti at the Davis Cup

Awards
Preceded by Andre Agassi	ATP Most Improved Player 1999	Succeeded by Marat Safin