Ivan Ljubicic denied Michael Llodra a home win in the final of the Lyon Grand Prix as he captured his first ATP title in two years.
Croatian wins Lyon Grand Prix to mark his first title success in two years
Ivan Ljubicic denied Michael Llodra of France a home win in the final of the Lyon Grand Prix as he captured his first ATP title in two years.
Croatian world number 29 Ljubicic, who was the thorn in the side of the otherwise all-French quarter-finals, won his last title on grass in 2007 at the Den Bosch Open.
"I am very happy. The emotions are coming up now," said Ljubicic, who next faces the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
"It was a pretty even match but I knew that if I kept to my game plan that I would eventually come through it okay,
"I felt good on the court and I played really good tennis. If I continue to play like this, there will still be good things to come.
Ljubicic, who is a former world number three, took a downturn in form and dropped to 76 in the world rankings earlier this year, but has recovered impressively and now has the top 20 once again in his sight.
Both players demonstrated powerful serves early on in the match, but in the 12th game Llodra felt the pressure of Ljubicic's service returns and volleyed long, allowing the 30-year-old third seed to snatch the opening set.
Wild card Llodra took the early break in the second set with a forehand return, only for his opponent to secure five consecutive games, capitalising on the Frenchman's weak second serve.
Ljubicic wrapped up the game with ease on his first match point with a service winner.
Fantastic
"My level of play was top notch and I will remember the manner in which I played such fantastic tennis this week," he added.
"I have been struggling with injuries lately, so I will enjoy this title as much as I can.
"My wife is here, my family is around so I will celebrate but unfortunately, I have to run to Basel next week."
Llodra, who is principally thought of as a doubles expert, admitted his form had not been as solid as earlier in the competition.
"I wasn't quite as strong physically as I had been and the semi-final against Gilles Simon took its toll on me," said Llodra, who also competed in the Marseille final earlier this year but has been plagued by injury during this campaign.
"My general play was pretty good except for my serve which had held up alright prior to Sunday.
"Here I was not able to get enough first serves in.
"My target this year was to finish in the top 100 and I will definitely be well inside that mark."
Ljubicic, who won the first of his nine main tour crowns at the same venue in 2001, is the third player aged 30 or over to win an ATP Tour title this season after Radek Stepanek and Tommy Haas.
He commented that the title would make a perfect gift for his son's first birthday.
"It's a special place for me. I won my first title here in 2001 and here is my first title as a father," he added.
"It's his first birthday in four days and it's the best present I could offer him."
