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INDIAN WELLS, Calif., March 20 (UPI) -- Ivan Ljubicic and Andy Roddick will meet in the finals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., after winning their semifinal matches Saturday.
No. 20 seed Ljubicic pulled off his second upset of the event, downing No. 3 seed Rafael Nadal in one semifinal, while seventh-seeded American Roddick dispatched sixth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling in the other.
Ljubicic, the 20th-seeded Croatian, outlasted Nadal -- the defending champion -- 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) to gain a spot in Sunday's championship. Ljubicic downed No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic in the fourth round.
Nadal ran into big trouble after breezing through the first set. Ljubicic responded with four straight points in the second to win the set and then survived a final set that took nearly an hour to complete.
Roddick, meanwhile, downed Soderling 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in a match that lasted 1 hour, 46 minutes. Roddick had reached the semifinals by beating 18th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3, 7-5 Friday, while Soderling advanced after handling fourth-seeded Briton Andy Murray 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).
Roddick has posted a 7-3 career record against Ljubicic.
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