Federer Wins Three Tiebreaks as Key Biscayne Crowns Its Champions

Roger Federer has retained his NASDAQ-100 Open title after a final decided by three consecutive tiebreaks. The Swiss player defeated Ivan Ljubicic 7–6, 7–6, 7–6 on Sunday, April 2, at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park, closing a tournament that produced changes beyond its championship results.

The tiebreak scores were 7–5, 7–4 and 8–6. Those numbers make the shape of the match clear: a straight-sets result, but no set won by a comfortable margin. Federer had to settle each one in the concentrated contest that begins at six games all. Ljubicic’s name may appear on the losing side of the score, but the score itself records how narrow those separate outcomes were.

Svetlana Kuznetsova won the women’s title with a 6–4, 6–3 victory over Maria Sharapova. The two champions completed a Key Biscayne tournament that restored equal prize money for the men and women, with each singles winner receiving $533,500. That parity gives the results an additional significance beyond the trophies.

This year also brought electronic line calling to the Stadium Court. Players could challenge decisions through the Hawk-Eye system, and the accompanying video boards allowed spectators to follow the review. The first match to use the procedure was Jamea Jackson against Ashley Harkleroad; Jackson made the first challenge, which did not overturn the call.

The change introduces a new kind of pause into a tennis match. A disputed ball can become a shared review for the players, officials and crowd, replacing an argument over what someone saw with a visible procedure for checking the decision. It does not remove pressure from the contest. It changes how a particular kind of uncertainty is resolved.

For Miami’s sporting calendar, the tournament combines these technical developments with the attraction of watching leading players in an outdoor island setting. Crandon Park remains the place where a local audience can encounter the international tour over an extended run of matches, with the finals supplying only its last chapter.

This year’s chapter ends with Federer successfully defending his title and Kuznetsova taking the women’s crown. The scores will be the simplest record of the fortnight. Equal prize money and the arrival of electronic challenges give the 2006 edition two further reasons to stand out.