Tomas Berdych produced one of the shocks of the season when he tamed in-form Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4 to win the Paris Masters on Sunday.
The 20-year-old Czech, ranked 50th in the world, held his nerve in the five-set thriller to end the brilliant indoor run of sixth seed Ljubicic and capture his first Masters Series title.
"I thought winning this would be the best perfect way to end the season and I made it," Berdych told reporters.
The unseeded Berdych wasted three match points before hitting a backhand winner to secure victory after just over three hours of pulsating tennis.
Ljubicic, who had won 20 of his last 22 matches to clinch titles in Metz and Vienna before stretching Rafael Nadal to five sets in the Madrid Masters final, still has plenty to look forward to.
His Paris campaign won him a ticket to the eight-strong Masters Cup from Nov. 13 in Shanghai. The 26-year-old will also carry Croatian hopes in their Davis Cup final against Slovakia.
Ljubicic recovered from two sets down to force a decider and unleashed 28 aces but it was not enough to stop Berdych from becoming the second youngest winner of the tournament after Boris Becker triumphed at the age of 18 in 1986.
"The key was the beginning," Ljubicic said. "He played really well and there wasn't much I could do.
"I didn't have many chances. He was just too good."
Berdych made a great start, breaking Ljubicic in the fourth game and staying on top until he took the set with an ace after 32 minutes.
SET POINTS
The second set was tight until Berdych broke his opponent with perfect timing, a backhand volley giving him a 5-4 lead and enabling him to serve for the set.
The young Czech briefly appeared to be losing his composure, wasting three set points, but he earned a fourth, which he converted with a powerful smash.
Ljubicic responded by opening up a 4-1 lead in the third set which he won courtesy of an unforced error from his opponent.
The towering Croatian stayed on top in the fourth set with a break in the fifth game and waited for Berdych to hit a forehand long on set point.
Berdych, who received treatment and had his left thigh strapped after the fourth set, kept fighting in the decisive set in which there were no break opportunities until the Czech earnd his first three match points in the final game.
Before coming to Paris, Berdych had won just one title, on the Palermo clay last year.
He did, however, made headlines by knocking out Roger Federer at last year's Olympics in Athens, where he reached the quarter-finals.
"The perfect word to describe him is dangerous," Ljubicic said. "You never know what to expect from him. He can do it all."
World number one Federer and Nadal, who had between them won the first eight Masters Series tournaments of the season, both missed the Paris event because of injuries.
