Ljubicic Denied Again in ATP MS-Paris Final

Ljubicic was playing in his fifth consecutive ATP event, with highlights of the run including back-to-back titles at Metz and Vienna, and a five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in the championship at the Masters Series-Madrid, adding up to exhaustion entering Paris but with a payoff of qualifying for the eighth and final position at the season-ending Masters Cup.

"I had a fantastic week really, although I would have liked to win," Ljubicic said. "Now I look forward to the Masters Cup and Davis Cup."

Berdych had 18 aces but faltered up two sets to love. In the fifth set both players held serve until the final game when the Croat fought off three consecutive set points from 0-40 before succumbing later in the game.

The 20-year-old Berdych is an impressive 6-0 in five-set matches, and during the week beat three Roland Garros winners or finalists in Guillermo Coria, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Gaston Gaudio. The giant-killing Berdych beat Roger Federer last year at the Olympics and Rafael Nadal this year at the Masters Series-Cincinnati.

"We were looking at the list of former champions [at the MS-Paris] with my coach in the morning and I saw that [Boris] Becker was only 18 when he won it and Marat [Safin] was also 20 when he won," Berdych said. "I said to myself it would be nice if I could put my name on that list."

In the doubles final, No. 2 seeds Mike and Bob Bryan won their fifth title of the season, defeating No. 4 seeds Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4 to put themselves in a strong position to finish the year No. 1.

It was the American brothers' fifth title in 11 finals this year.

"It feels good to get some momentum going into Shanghai," Mike Bryan said. "I thought we played a great tournament from the first round on and it was a tough match today and we were lucky to win. Knowles/Nestor are the hottest team on the tour right now and we had to play our best tennis to beat them."