Ivan Ljubicic News

Defending champion Ivan Ljubicic defeated fifth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 to win the BA-CA Tennis Trophy on Sunday. The top-seeded Croatian has won three ATP titles this season and six overall. Ljubicic, who allowed only one point on serve in the first set, broke to lead 3-1 with his strong groundstrokes. He also won the second set with only one break of serve. At 3-2 up in the third set, Gonzalez wasted four break points ...

Defending champion Ivan Ljubicic advanced to the semifinals of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy on Friday, cruising past Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-2. Ljubicic was in complete control of the match. An early break in the first set was enough for the top-seeded Croatian, who did not allow any break points. In the second, he quickly built a comfortable 4-0 lead before Wawrinka finally could hold his serve. ``All went ...

Defending champion Ivan Ljubicic defeated Agustin Calleri of Argentina 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the first round of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy on Tuesday. Calleri made three unforced errors in the first-set tiebreaker and lost his service twice in the second set. ``I am very happy that I played well,'' Ljubicic said. ``I felt some pressure coming back to Vienna as the titleholder but things went well in the second set.'' ...

Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia had little trouble beating home favourite Paradorn Srichaphan 6-3, 6-2 Saturday to reach the Thailand Open final. Ljubicic will face third-seeded James Blake in Sunday's final. The American rallied from a set down to beat former world No. 1 Marat Safin of Russia 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3). Ljubicic, who reached the 2003 Thailand semifinals, slammed 17 aces to beat the error-prone Srichaphan for the second ...

Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia outlasted Germany's Benjamin Becker 7-6 (6), 7-5 Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the US$550,000 Thailand Open. Third-seeded James Blake of the United States also advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Monaco's Benjamin Balleret. ``So far so good,'' Blake said. ``I'm happy with the way I played and hope to continue like this. Actually I came here having no expectations ... ...

Ivan Ljubicic, seeded first and ranked No. 3, lost 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the China Open quarter-finals Friday to South Korea's Lee Hyung-taik. Third-seeded Marco Baghdatis of Cyprus had little trouble in beating Danai Udomchoke of Thailand 6-2, 6-1 and will play the winner of the quarter-final between Nikolay Davydenko and Paradorn Srichaphan. Lee will next face fourth-seeded Mario Ancic of Croatia. Ancic recovered from a poor start to grind ...

Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia made short work of America's Kevin Kim on Thursday, coasting to a 6-3, 6-4 win and a spot in the China Open quarter-finals. Ljubicic, the world No. 5, slammed 15 aces and won 31 of 35 points on first serve en route to the victory. ``I served well,'' Ljubicic said.``My baseline play wasn't at top, but I tried to play aggressively, give my opponent pressure ...

NEW YORK (AP) _ Before the U.S. Open started, Ivan Ljubicic leaned forward in a chair in the players' lounge and spoke earnestly about feeling self-assured and ready for a strong run at the year's last Grand Slam tournament. Fast-forward to Monday: The third-seeded Ljubicic became the first surprise loser of the Open, defeated 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 by Feliciano Lopez on Day 1. ``I really never got going. That's true. ...

GSTAAD, Switzerland (AP) _ Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic defeated Albert Portas of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (5) Monday in the first round of the Allianz Swiss Open. The fourth-ranked Croatian will play 341st-ranked Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland, who upset 64th-ranked Davide Sanguinetti of Italy 6-3, 6-2. Third-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain topped Dick Norman of Belgium 6-4, 6-3 and will meet ...

By Eugene Brcic ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) _ Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic defeated Austrian qualifier Stefan Koubek 6-3, 6-4 Sunday to win his second title of the year at the Zagreb Indoors. The No. 5-ranked Ljubicic improved to 14-1 this season, winning his fifth career title. He reached the quarter-finals in the Australian Open and won last month in Chennai, India. ...