SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March 4 (UPI) -- Giovanni Lapentti, beginning to emerge from the shadow of older brother Nicolas on the ATP Tour, posted the biggest victory of his short career Tuesday by upsetting fourth-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 in the opening round of the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic.
The 6-5 Lapentti, an Ecuadorian ranked an obscure No. 311 on the tour, won his first career main draw match, dispatching the world 12th-ranked player in 73 minutes.
"I played unbelievable, it was a great day for me out there," Giovanni told Nicolas in a long distance telephone conversation afterward. "I felt very comfortable and I didn't think too much about. It just happened, and here I am now."
In other first round matches, Australian Open finalist and fifth seed Ranier Schuettler of Germany bounced qualifier Harel Levy of Israel, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, and No. 6 Alex Corretja of Spain ousted Russian qualifier Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-2.
In the featured night match, top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt of Australia tangled with Spain's Fernando Vicente.
With a big served constantly clocked above 130 miles per hour along with an attacking ground game, the 20-year-old Lapentti has all the tools to climb the rankings ladder. But he had not been able to match the physical talent with psychological aspect of the game.
"It's all mental," he explained. "The difference between the top 10 players in the world and the top 100 is all mentally how they play the important points. That's it. I'm getting stronger there."
Lapentti pointed to beating Marcelo Rios of Chile in Davis Cup as the turning point that gave him belief he could compete with the top guns.
