In 2006, he continued his bad run with a 1–8 record and a seven-match losing streak in the first three months, with his only win coming in the 2006 Medibank International over Juan Ignacio Chela. He then rebounded in the 2006 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, where he reached his third final without dropping a set, but lost to Mardy Fish. He also reached the semifinals of the 2006 BMW Open, losing to eventual champion Olivier Rochus, and the quarterfinals of the 2006 Hypo Group Tennis International, losing to Jiří Novák. However, he fell in the first rounds of the 2006 French Open and Wimbledon. At the 2006 Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, he reached the semifinals, but was upset by eventual champion Mark Philippoussis. He also reached the quarterfinals of the 2006 Interwetten Austrian Open Kitzbühel and the 2006 Pilot Pen Tennis. He then suffered two losses to Juan Mónaco in the third round of the 2006 Mercedes Cup and the first round of the 2006 Orange Warsaw Open. At the US Open, he lost to Alessio di Mauro, thus not winning a single Grand Slam match in the year. He then reached back-to-back finals at the 2006 BCR Open Romania and the 2006 Open de Moselle. He won his first ATP Tour title at the 2006 BCR Open Romania, defeating Filippo Volandri in straight sets in the final, with victories over Gilles Simon and Paul-Henri Mathieu. In the 2006 Open de Moselle, however, he lost to Novak Djokovic. He ended the year with a quarterfinal showing at the 2006 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy, losing to Andy Roddick, but earned his first win over Juan Carlos Ferrero. He made a first-round exit at the 2006 St. Petersburg Open, losing to Lukáš Dlouhý.