Ivan Ljubicic had no trouble raising the trophy Jelena Jankovic could barely lift. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

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Shock is an overused word in sports, but there was certainly one of them this week in Men's Singles at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.  Ivan Ljubicic beat three top ten players on his way to winning his first ATP 1000 Masters title, finishing off with a straight sets win over Andy Roddick in the final.

As stunning as Ljubicic's title was, perhaps even more stunning was the manner in which he won the last three sets of his run.  He closed out his win in the semifinals by winning seven straight points in a third set tiebreak against Rafael Nadal, a player who is known for being one of the best finishers in the game.  He then beat Andy Roddick in two more tiebreak sets, despite Roddick's near incomparable skill in those deciders.

And I haven't even mentioned his straight sets stunning of #2 Novak Djokovic in the fourth round, an upset few would have seen coming after Djokovic's dismantling of Ljubicic at the US Open last year.

This wasn't a case of a #20 seed coming back from a long layoff or on an extended run of good play who was expected to outperform his seeding.  There were easily at least nineteen players whom would have been expected to outlast Ljubicic at Indian Wells, and probably more (Marcos Baghdatis, David Nalbandian, and James Blake, perhaps).  But Ljubicic defied the odds match after match, and in the end walked away with a title few thought he'd get within miles of.

What does this mean for Ljubicic going forward? My gut says this is a fluke.  He's old and oft injured, so building off this success, especially going into the clay circuit soon, doesn't seem likely.  But even if this is the peak of the rest of his career, it's still an incredible accomplishment and showing of perseverance that few thought would ever come.

As for Roddick, reaching the finals of a 1000 event for the first time since 2006 certainly constitutes a good week.  He definitely didn't seem happy to lose to Ljubicic in fairly listless fashion in the final, but the rest of his play during the tournament was pretty excellent.  Robin Soderling was the only real tough opponent he had to go through on his way, but he beat everyone across the net from him like he was supposed to.

Until he met the big serving Croat who sort of looks like Uncle Fester, that is.