Ljubicic, seeded 20th, fired down 20 aces and hit 42 winners to seal an emotional victory in two hours seven minutes on the stadium court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Appearing in his fourth Masters final, the 31-year-old clinched the second-set tiebreak 7-5 after unleashing a booming service winner before thrusting both arms skywards.
He had played some of the best tennis of his career at Indian Wells, eliminating second seed Novak Djokovic in the fourth round and third seed Rafa Nadal in the semi-finals.
Although the American saved three match points while battling back to 5-6, Ljubicic made no mistake with his fourth opportunity with a kicking first serve Roddick was unable to return.
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