Ljubicic Rolls Gonzo to Successfully Defend at ViennaPosted on October 16, 2006 Top seed Ivan Ljubicic successfully defended his Vienna title Sunday. For the second consecutive year the top seed won the title without dropping serve, defeating Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in the final, where he saved all four break points he faced while breaking Gonzalez once in each set.
"It's great. It's the second year in a row where I didn't drop a set or my serve. It's incredible," Ljubicic said afterward. The Croatian fired 17 aces in the final against Gonzalez and served up just one double fault. He won 88 percent of points on his first serve and 66 percent of points on his second serve. "I'm feeling really great on this court," said Ljubicic who won his 60th match of the season, a career-high for the Croat. "I knew that I would play well here but to go all the way when I saw five Top 10 players in the draw I knew it would be difficult. But I really played superb and I really hope to keep playing this well for the rest of the year." By winning the title without being broken, Ljubicic joins Mark Philippoussis as the only players to do so this year. Philippoussis won Newport in July without losing serve. Ljubicic has now won 14 of his past 18 matches having reached the Bangkok final (l. Blake) two weeks ago. "He served too good today," Gonzo said. "He went for every shot and was just playing good. It was a really tough day. Maybe I didn't have my best day of the week but Ivan was on the other side of the court playing very well." |
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