Former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic jump-started her 2010 season Sunday with a straight-sets victory over Caroline Wozniacki for the Indian Wells WTA title. Jankovic didn't put a foot wrong as she downed her Danish opponent 6-2, 6-4 to claim her 12th career title and her first since Cincinnati last August. “It's been a great two weeks for me, really amazing,” Jankovic said. “I'm so happy and so thrilled that I was able to win this title.” The Serbian came into the tournament ranked ninth in the world and seeded sixth, while world No. 4 Wozniacki was seeded second. But neither woman had made much noise this season, with both failing to reach a quarterfinal until this week. Jankovic had her struggles, eking out a third-round victory over world No. 49 Sara Errani before posting solid victories over Shahar Peer and Alisa Kleybanova. She had Wozniacki on the defensive early, rolling to a 4-0 lead in the first set before the Dane managed to break her to cut the deficit to 4-2. Jankovic broke back immediately and pocketed the first set on her third set point as Wozniacki fired a forehand long. She maintained the momentum by breaking Wozniacki in the opening game of the second set, and made the break hold up. She earned a match point with a backhand winner and sealed it when Wozniacki belted a service return long. Roddick-Ljubicic final Ivan Ljubicic rode his big serve to a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1) victory over defending champion Rafael Nadal Saturday and a berth in the BNP Paribas Open final. Ljubicic will play Andy Roddick in the final after the American outlasted Robin Soderling 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Ljubicic served 17 aces - giving him 64 in the tournament - and overcame 51 unforced errors to end a five-match losing streak against the world's third-ranked player. The Croatian upset second-ranked Novak Djokovic in the round of 16 and is in position to win an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time after three runner-up showings, the last in 2006 at Miami. “I hope this one is going to finally be the victory,” he said. Nadal was trying to end an 11-tournament title drought. He hasn't won since last May in Rome after being hampered by knee injuries last summer and at the Australian Open. Nadal appeared unbeatable in the opening set, powering forehands out of Ljubicic's reach. But the lefty's best stroke deserted him at times in the second set, when Ljubicic broke for a 5-4 lead on Nadal's double-fault. The Croatian served out the set and then broke again to open the third. Ljubicic won on his first match point, sending a forehand down the line. He jumped in the air and thrust his right fist in celebration a day after his 31st birthday. “It's probably the best tiebreaker I ever played in my career,” he said. “Absolutely perfect.” Roddick will play his first Indian Wells final after losing in the semifinals three times, including last year to Nadal. Roddick and Soderling took turns throwing their rackets in frustration as the momentum swung back and forth. Roddick gained control when he held for 3-all in the third, then broke Soderling en route to winning three of the final four games. “I knew I was returning real well, so I thought this might be the rare occasion where that would be the thing that won it for me,” Roddick said. “Ultimately, the fact that I put a lot of pressure on his service games ended up helping.” Roddick, the highest-ranked American on the ATP Tour, already has won a title in Brisbane this year. He lost in the San Jose final last month.
