DEN BOSCH, Netherlands -- Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia won the the Ordina Open on Saturday for his first grass-court championship. Anna Chakvetadze of Russia captured the women's final of this Wimbledon warmup.
The second-seeded Ljubicic beat unseeded Peter Wessels of the Netherlands 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), and the third-seeded Chakvetadze beat top-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3. It was the second title of the year for both Ljubicic and Chakvetadze.
"I started off good but Jelena came back very strong," Chakvetadze said. "In the beginning of the third set, I had some luck."
Ljubicic is ranked 13th in the world, but got a tough challenge from Wessels. The 488th ranked player never dropped his serve in trying to win the second title of his 11-year career.
"Peter played a fantastic game. I couldn't break him once," said Ljubicic, the third Croat in a row to win this event after two titles for Mario Ancic.
Earlier Saturday, Wessels had completed his semifinal match against Antony Dupuis of France, winning 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), after it was halted Friday by darkness.
"Beforehand I would have been happy to make the final," Wessels said. "But if you're there and so close, that's bitter."
Chakvetadze broke Jankovic in the final set to lead 4-2, only to drop serve in the next game. She recovered to 5-3 and then saved three break points to serve out the set.
Chakvetadze opened the match with a five-game streak before Jankovic found her pace and evened the first set at 5-5.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
