Ivan Ljubicic shocked Indian Wells titleholder Rafael Nadal 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1) to set up a meeting in the final with Andy Roddick.
With the loss, Nadal will drop to No. 4 behind Andy Murray. The 31-year-old Ljubicic is looking to be come the oldest Indian Wells champion since Jimmy Connors in 1984, who was 32 at the time. The Croat, who entered the match with a 1-5 record against Nadal, raced through the tentative Spaniard in the tiebreaker, which Ljubicic called “absolutely perfect.”
Nadal said he was jittery in the tiebreaker and added that the swirling wind lessened his advantage from the baseline.
“That was an accident today,” he said. "That's my feeling, because I was playing enough well to win the tournament. It was important accident, and I have to learn to try to play more aggressive next time and try to convert the opportunities.”
After holding break points in the second and third set, Nadal lost seven straight points in the tiebreaker. “I was more nervous than passive," he said. "Because I never had to arrive to this tiebreak… That's tennis. I played bad. I gonna try to win in Miami.”
It’s the fourth time that the 26th-ranked Ljubicic has reached an ATP Masters Series final, but he has yet to win one. “I really feel like 2005, 2006 when I played my best tennis I deserved that one Masters Series,” said Ljubicic, who got as high as No. 3 in the world during that period.
“Tomorrow I'm gonna have another chance to go for it. When I see my name on the court, to have that little shield next to my name, it would be nice.”
Roddick, meanwhile, will be trying to win his first title at Indian Wells. “It's about the only place in the North American swing that I haven't won before, so that would be nice," he said.–Matthew Cronin.