Jankovic & Ljubicic Champions at Indian Wells

PETE ZIEBRON

Jankovic: 8^th Consecutive Win v. WTA Top 5 Nets BNP Paribas Open Crown 

 Jelena Jankovic's last title prior to today in Cincinnati in August 2009.

Jelena Jankovic defeated her 8^th consecutive Top 5 opponent today when she impressively handled second seeded Caroline Wozniaki 6-2 6-4 at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA.  Jankovic improves to 4-0 lifetime against Wozniacki, and has dropped only 10 games in the last 4 sets that they have played.  In advancing to the Final, Wozniacki will rise to world number 2 on the WTA Tour. 

Jankovic won only 5 matches in 2010 coming into the BNP Paribas Open but was able to find her game in the California desert, winning her 12^th career title and first since Cincinnati last August when she defeated then world number 1 Dinara Safina. 

Jelena’s Mastery of the Top 5:

• 6-2 6-4 v. #4 Wozniacki   @ Indian Wells MAR ‘10
• 6-3 2-6 6-3 v. #4 Kuznetsova  @ Fed Cup – Serbia FEB ’10
• 1-1 RET v. #1 Safina  @ Qatar OCT ’09
• 6-2 6-2 v. #4 Wozniacki  @ Qatar OCT ’09
• 6-4 6-2 v. #1 Safina  @ Cincinnati AUG ’09
• 7-6(2) 0-6 7-6(6) v. #4 Dementieva  @ Cincinnati AUG ’09
• 6-3 6-4 v. #4 Ivanovic  @ Qatar NOV ’08
• 0-6 6-1 6-0 v. #4 Dementieva  @ Moscow OCT ‘08

Ljubicic Hoists Masters 1000 Hardware for Initial Time

 Champion Ivan Ljubicic in action at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open.

Ivan Ljubicic blasted 20 aces past Andy Roddick to win the 2010 BNP Paribas Open 7-6(3) 7-6(5).  The 31 year-old Croatian led the tournament with 86 aces in total and won his 10^th overall title and first Masters 1000 tournament of his career. 

Ljubicic had a difficult road to victory as he defeated world number 2 Novak Djokovic in the round of 16, defending Champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and world number 7 Andy Roddick in the Final. 

In the loss, Roddick missed a prime opportunity to join Roger Federer, Michael Chang and Andre Agassi as the only players to win all 4 Masters 1000 tournaments held in North America.  Last year in Cincinnati, Novak Djokovic was also denied this feat as he fell to Roger Federer in the Final.

As new Champion of the BNP Paribas Open, Ljubicic rises to #13 in the world and enters the Sony Ericsson Open Masters 1000 this week with new confidence. 

• Ironically, Chinese clothing companies sponsor both Ljubicic and Jankovic: Ljubicic with Li Ning and Jankovic with ANTA.