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Lapentti Wins RCA

August 22, 1999 / 10:31 PM EDT / AP

Nicolas Lapentti recovered his nerve -- and his serve -- just in time.

Broken only twice in his five previous matches, Lapentti shook off four service breaks and a first-set loss to beat unseeded Vincent Spadea 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 Sunday for the RCA Championship, only his second victory on the ATP Tour.

"Having waited for this moment for almost four years now, I was so desperate to win a title that maybe I put too much pressure on me," said the 11th-seeded Lapentti. "Also, the way I was playing all week, I was playing kind of perfect tennis, so maybe I was a little nervous at the beginning and didn't serve as well as I have been serving in this tournament."

The 23-year-old Ecuadorian, who moved from 20th to 18th in the ATP rankings, won $122,500. Spadea, who has never won a tour title, climbed from 34th to 23rd and earned $64,500.

The hard-serving Lapentti was broken twice in each of the first two sets. Spadea led the second set 4-2 before Lapentti settled down, forced two service breaks of his own and took control. Lapentti had the only service break in the third set.

"I did break enough to win the match, but to win titles, especially a tournament like this, you have to be able to hold serve," Spadea said. "Whether it's getting more first serves in or having a little bit more execution at the right moments."

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Nicolas Lapentti returns a shot from Vincent Spadea on his way to victory at the RCA Championship.(AP)

Both Lapentti and Spadea were unexpected finalists in the RCA tournament, which never before had a winner seeded lower than ninth.

Top-seeded Pete Sampras retired with a strained right hip flexor after splitting the first two sets with Spadea in Friday's quarterfinals. Lapentti took out fourth-seeded Carlos Moya in the quarterfinals, then had an easy victory in the semifinals over Jan Siemerink, who advanced when second-seeded Patrick Rafter withdrew with tendinitis in his right shoulder.

Even though Spadea is far from a household name, the win gave Lapentti momentum.

"It's definitely the best preparation for me for the U.S. Open," Lapentti said. "I'm going to be there with a lot of confidence. Also the other guys, when they play me, are maybe going to say, `Well, this guy's playing good.' So it's going to be a totally different story."

Lapentti's only other tour victory was in 1995 over Miguel Tobon in Bogota, Colombia. Until the first-set loss to Spadea, he had won straight-set victories in each rond at the Indianapolis Tennis Center.

"I've been playing very good the last month," Lapentti said. "I've been playing for five weeks or six in a row now and I'm taking a week off ... get some strength back and get ready for the Open."