BNP Open 2010 Wrap-Up: Jankovic, Ljubicic Victorious

The BNP Open 2010 Wraps Up In Indian Wells After Nearly Two Weeks Of Intense Competition.

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia came out on top as surprise winners at this year's BNP Open, a tournament not rid of major tennis stars.

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Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Elena Dementieva were all ousted early on with Rafael Nadal going out in semifinals denied his second consecutive and third overall BNP Open singles title by the to-be winner Ljubicic.

A Croatian male player has never won BNP Open. Ranked No. 20, Ljubicic was definitely an underdog heading into the tournament. But not after he beat former No. 1 twenty-three-year-old Rafael Nadal one day after turning 31 on March 19. Perhaps, his win against No. 2 seeded Novak Djokovic early on gave Ljubicic the extra confidence to challenge Nadal in the semifinals. With the tournament being held in California, Ljubicic knew he would not be the crowd's favourite facing American Andy Roddick in the final. Yet, the Croat blew past No.7 ranked Roddick 76(3) 76(5). With BNP Open under his belt, Ljubicic rose up to No. 13 in rankings. The tournament lowered Rafael Nadal into No.4 position, with Roger Federer still clinging to No.1.

In women's final, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia came through as yet another dark horse. Jankovic did not have a particularly good season last year, never making it past the fourth round at any major Grand Slam tournaments. She also did not look great at the Australian Open earlier this year, exiting in third round in a loss to No. 31 ranked Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine.

But, Jankovic looked strong in Indian Wells. Although she did not have to face any of the top ranked players until she met No. 2 ranked Caroline Wozniacki to win 62 64 in the finals, Jankovic has lost a set only once in the entire tournament. After the final, former No.1 Jankovic was speaking of newly discovered confidence.

The next major tennis tournament of the Grand Slam series is Roland Garros in Paris, France that is coming up on May 23.

Videos

Jelena Jankovic vs_ Caroline Wozniacki, Indian Wells 2010 FINAL

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sourced by Yuliya Talmazan

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