Felix Mantilla became the first unseeded player to win in Rome since the Open Era began in 1968 by beating fourth seed Roger Federer in the Rome Masters final on Sunday. Mantilla, who had battled through four tough matches in the tournament to make his first final of the year, beat Switzerland’s Federer 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 to win his 10th title. Federer, who had only dropped one set in his last nine claycourt matches, mixed the pace of his groundstrokes to create seven break points, but wasted them all, in the first set. The 29-year-old Mantilla then took advantage of some unforced errors in the 12th game to break serve and win the first set. The Spaniard broke again in the sixth and eighth games of the second set to run out a comfortable 6-2 winner. A see-saw third set went to a tiebreak, which Mantilla won when Federer smashed a forehand over the baseline. Serena favourite World No.1 Serena Williams starts as firm favourite to repeat last year’s triumph at the Rome Masters women’s event which starts on Monday. No female player has defended the title since 1996. Serena has been in unstoppable form recently, winning tournaments in Paris and Miami as well as the Australian Open in January. Bhupathi-Max down India's leading doubles player Mahesh Bhupathi and his Belarussian partner Max Mirnyi bowed out of the ATP Masters in Rome yesterday. Bhupathi and Mirnyi, second seeds, went down to Australian duo Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley 6-7 (6-8), 3-6 in the semifinals, according to information received here today.
