Ljubicic drops Nadal to book final vs. Roddick

“It was great, great match,” former world number three Ljubicic said of his 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) triumph over the world number three. “Probably the best I've ever played in my career.”

It came one day after his 31st birthday, and Ljubicic more than kept pace with 23-year-old Nadal, the defending champion who was playing his first tournament since a knee injury forced him out of the Australian Open.

Ljubicic displayed the form that saw him rise to number three in 2006, especially in a third-set tiebreaker that he called “absolutely perfect.”

“I knew I had to be aggressive,” said Ljubicic, who gave leap of celebration when his forehand winner landed on match point. “I knew I had to go for my shots, but I didn't expect that everything would go in. But it did happen.”

Ljubicic denied Nadal a shot at a third title in four years. More importantly he gave himself another shot at a Masters 1000 title, something that eluded him when he reached the finals in three of the prestigious events in 2005 and 2006.

“I hope this one, it's going to be finally the victory,” said Ljubicic, whose path to the final included a fourth-round victory over world number two Novak Djokovic.

In Sunday's final he'll face seventh-seeded American Andy Roddick, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 winner over sixth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling.

U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and former world number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia will play for the women's title on Sunday.

Ljubicic, now ranked 26th in the world, halted a five-match skid against Nadal that included defeats last year in the quarter-finals of Masters 1000 events in Monte Carlo and Shanghai.

He fired 17 aces - taking his total for the tournament to 66. But he said aces were just part of the story on his serve.

“I was not going for the biggest serves all the time,” he said. “I knew that slow serve to his backhand would give him a lot of trouble, and that's exactly what happened.”

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