Ljubicic lifts Wells title

Croatian clinches title victory at Indian Wells

By Rachel Griffiths   Last updated: 22nd March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Ljubicic lifts Wells title

Ljubicic: Title win

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Croatian veteran Ivan Ljubicic upset Andy Roddick 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5) on Sunday at the BNP Paribas Open to claim the first elite 1000 Masters title of his career.

The 20th seed fired 20 aces and hit 42 winners to wrap up his victory over the American in two hours and seven minutes at Indian Wells.

The big-serving 31-year-old, appearing in his fourth Masters final, clinched the second-set tiebreak 7-5 to close out his win.

Ljubicic, who saw off world number two Novak Djokovic and reigning champion Rafael Nadal on his way to the final, won on his fourth match point, blasting a serve that Roddick could not return.

Roddick had beaten Ljubicic seven times in their previous 10 meetings, winning their last encounter at Indian Wells in 2007.

Fantastic

The title triumph sees Ljubicic, who celebrated his 31st birthday on Friday, become the oldest first-time winner of a Masters event.

Speaking afterwards, he said: "It's really a fantastic feeling to finally have it. It gives something special to your career."

"The fact that I won here doesn't make me the number three, number five player in the world.

"I just need to be realistic and try to consolidate these results. I know how difficult it is to beat me."

A gracious Roddick added: "He served great. The last two days was an exhibition in how-to on serving big points.

"I felt like I was getting aced or he was hitting a service winner every time I'd worked my way into a game. I felt I had a lot more opportunities throughout the sets than he did, but he just served hugely."