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Ljubicic crushes Nalbandian to reach Miami final

Posted on: Friday, 31 March 2006, 17:35 CST

MIAMI (Reuters) - Croatian Ivan Ljubicic reached his third final in six ATP events this season, routing third seed David Nalbandian 6-1 6-2 at the Nasdaq-100 Open on Friday.

Sixth seed Ljubicic clinched victory with two successive aces, his 11th and 12th of the match, to set up a meeting with world number one Roger Federer or 11th-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer.

Defeat served notice to Nalbandian that the challenge will be tough when his Argentina team travel to Zagreb next week for their Davis Cup quarter-final against holders Croatia.

Ljubicic, who won trophies last year in Chennai and Zagreb, has been in sparkling form this season, registering 25 wins and three defeats.

The 26-year-old Croat conceded only five points on serve against Nalbandian.

"I've been serving well in my last two matches," Ljubicic told reporters. "He was in trouble all through the match.

"He had some kind of problem, he wasn't moving well. I played a really good match."

Nalbandian said: "I tried to play my game but I couldn't manage it. It was tough, so windy and he played incredible."

Ljubicic made no secret of his desire to face Federer in the final after having lost to the Swiss player five times last year and twice already this season.

"There is one guy (Federer) doing better than I am right now. I'm looking forward to playing him if he gets to the final," said Ljubicic.

"I always enjoy playing him, even if I lose."

Source: REUTERS

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