ARITCLE Ljubicic wins Vienna Trophy crown
Since marrying Aida last November, Ivan Ljubicic has enjoyed his most successful season as a professional. On Sunday at the Vienna Trophy, the 26-year-old Croatian recorded a 6-2 6-4 7-6 (7-5) victory over seventh seed Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain for a second title from six finals in 2005.
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"To win a title without dropping your serve, it's incredible really," said a jubilant Ljubicic.
"Today I also returned well and I played from the baseline pretty good. To beat Juan Carlos, you cannot do it just with the serve."
Ljubicic started with a bang hitting three aces in the opening game before breaking to lead 3-1 on his fourth break point.
Ferrero had an immediate opportunity to break back but Ljubicic got out of trouble with a forehand winner and a careless forehand gave the Croat a second break for the set.
The Spanish former world number one held a break point in the first game of the second set but then netted a forehand.
He held another at 4-4 which Ljubicic saved with a big serve followed by a forehand volley on Ferrero's desperate return.
Ljubicic then held two set points at 5-4, making an error on his return on the first but hitting a winning crosscourt volley on the second.
The final set went with serve until 4-4 when a visibly tiring Ljubicic had to fight off another break point and he then held a match point at 5-4 which Ferrero survived with a forehand winner.
The set, and the match, was decided by just one mini-break in the tiebreak, when Ferrero double-faulted to give Ljubicic a 2-0 lead.
Ljubicic said: "I knew that I had to be very aggressive from the baseline, go to the net. I have to do things to break up the long rallies and I think I did it perfectly.
"In the third set I was more and more tired, especially that rally on break point. My legs were dead completely, but I think I handled the rally pretty good."
Ferrero was looking for his first ATP Tour title since capturing the 2003 Madrid Masters, which starts on Monday.
He will jump back into the Top 20, when the new world rankings are announced on Monday, for his best ranking since October last year.
Ferrero said: "I had some chances to do more than I did, but I felt the pressure in the break points because I knew I would only get a little chance with his serve."
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Since marrying Aida last November, Ivan Ljubicic has enjoyed his most successful season as a professional. On Sunday at the Vienna Trophy, the 26-year-old Croatian recorded a 6-2 6-4 7-6 (7-5) victory over seventh seed Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain for a second title from six finals in 2005.
[...]
"To win a title without dropping your serve, it's incredible really," said a jubilant Ljubicic.
"Today I also returned well and I played from the baseline pretty good. To beat Juan Carlos, you cannot do it just with the serve."
Ljubicic started with a bang hitting three aces in the opening game before breaking to lead 3-1 on his fourth break point.
Ferrero had an immediate opportunity to break back but Ljubicic got out of trouble with a forehand winner and a careless forehand gave the Croat a second break for the set.
The Spanish former world number one held a break point in the first game of the second set but then netted a forehand.
He held another at 4-4 which Ljubicic saved with a big serve followed by a forehand volley on Ferrero's desperate return.
Ljubicic then held two set points at 5-4, making an error on his return on the first but hitting a winning crosscourt volley on the second.
The final set went with serve until 4-4 when a visibly tiring Ljubicic had to fight off another break point and he then held a match point at 5-4 which Ferrero survived with a forehand winner.
The set, and the match, was decided by just one mini-break in the tiebreak, when Ferrero double-faulted to give Ljubicic a 2-0 lead.
Ljubicic said: "I knew that I had to be very aggressive from the baseline, go to the net. I have to do things to break up the long rallies and I think I did it perfectly.
"In the third set I was more and more tired, especially that rally on break point. My legs were dead completely, but I think I handled the rally pretty good."
Ferrero was looking for his first ATP Tour title since capturing the 2003 Madrid Masters, which starts on Monday.
He will jump back into the Top 20, when the new world rankings are announced on Monday, for his best ranking since October last year.
Ferrero said: "I had some chances to do more than I did, but I felt the pressure in the break points because I knew I would only get a little chance with his serve."
>> full article
