• BNP Paribas Open

Ljubicic completes fairytale

Indian Wells Gallery: Sunday

Ivan Ljubicic has won the biggest tournament of his career at the ripe old age of 31, defeating Andy Roddick on two tie-breaks in the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.

The veteran Croat became the third player to win the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event whilst sitting outside the world top-20, and in a good omen for Ljubicic pre-match, the previous two, like him, were ranked No. 26 when they triumphed.

And while Roger Federer and Andy Murray had premature exits on the other half of the draw, it was Ljubicic who eliminated Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal before conquering Roddick as well, making him the most deserving of champions.

The final represented a battle of the big serves, but both men acquitted themselves well in the rallies as they fought desperately for every point in an even match. In fact, when Ljubicic sent down an unreturnable serve to wrap it up 7-6(3) 7-6(5), it levelled the overall points tally at 84 apiece.

Neither competitor could break the other's serve but it was Roddick who might look back and regret not taking one of the six opportunities he created. The American made inroads on Ljubicic's second serve and took a number of games to deuce, most notable the ninth of the second set where Ljubicic eventually survived thanks to his big first serve, which won him 87% of the points when it landed in.

Ljubicic won the ace-race 21-12, and big serves on big points ultimately tipped the stakes in his favour. In the decisive tie-break, he raced to a 6-2 lead before allowing Roddick back to 6-5 with a double fault and a poor challenge on Roddick's second serve that landed right on the line.

But, fittingly, it was another major blow to Roddick's backhand side that sealed Ljubicic's tenth career title.

Ljubicic was humble after the match, crediting Roddick as an "inspiration". He said: "Congratulations to Andy for your first time final here. When I watch you play I get inspiration to work hard because the amount of energy you put in is just tremendous. I hope you keep playing this way and win all the major titles. Thank you everybody, of course if I'm fit next year I'll be here to defend my title."

Roddick delivered a tribute to Ljubicic, who had considered retirement prior to his recent resurgence, in his runner-up speech.

Roddick said: "I want to congratulate Ivan on having such a great week. I don't know how much of this is true but about a year ago there was some talk in the locker room that you were close to stopping tennis. Let me just say we would have lost a hell of a player. I'm not so glad you're out here today, but in general, yes."

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