Rafael Nadal's return to his superb form had been the story thus far of the BNP Paribas Masters, currently taking place in Indian Wells, California (the event is one of two major hard-court events taking place in the United States in March, the other being the Sony Erricsson in Miami which starts next weekend). The third ranked southpaw seems to have - for the time being at least - recovered from his nagging, career-threatening knee problems and has regained both power and consistency on his trademark topspin groundstrokes, augmenting his always-present competitive intensity.

And after the other three players ranked in the top four - Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray - all fell in the quarterfinals or earlier, it seemed a lock for Rafa to reach the final with a chance to defend his 2009 championship. Especially when his semifinal opponent on Saturday was 31 year old Croat Ivan Ljubicic, who counted only one victory over Nadal in their six meetings and that was five years ago before Nadal was a household name.

But after having been run around the court in the first set and appearing very much like a competitor most decidedly in tennis old age (he also looks about 10 years older as well), Ljubicic started to serve superbly and was able to capitalize on the increasing numbers of unforced errors from Nada, especially on the forehand side. And after forcing a decisive third set, Ljubicic played what he stated was the "best tiebreaker of my life", winning the breaker 7-1 and with it notching one of the bigger upsets of the young tennis season.

After securing the victory, Ljubicic broke out into a celebration that is usually reserved for victory at a Grand Slam final. His palpable joy and elation was refreshing as he ran over to the spectator's box to kiss his wife and longtime coach. And he deserved it.

After all, it had been a very long while since the formerly third ranked player in the world had managed any meaningful victory. One has to be the possessor of a cold heart to not have been warmed by the utter happiness that he exuded. It was obviously a very important occasion for him - he knew that days like this will become rarer, if not impossible, in the months and years to come and he obviously felt as if he proved something to himself; as if to outwardly declare that yes, I indeed do still have a place out here even if my ranking has dropped considerably.

And perhaps Ljubicic's upbringing had something to do with his effervescent and jubilant display. This is a man who had to flee war torn Bosnia as a child. He was lucky to have displayed an acumen for the sport at a young age and found a coach - and friend - in Italian Ricardo Piatti to help guide him since the age of 17. It must count for something his character and loyalty, this fact that Ljubicic has never sought another coach.

Tennis, like other individual sports, is so focused on just a few top pros. Even though Grand Slam events consist of 128 players, there are really only four or five that merit significant attention over the span of those tournaments. Contrast this to March Madness where even the 16th seeded teams get relatively plentiful consideration as upsets are common; i.e. Northern Iowa v. Kansas.

And in team sports, even when a club is languishing near last place, there are still possible narratives to follow. A player can be competing for an MVP or Cy Young award, a pitcher can throw a no-hitter, a running back for a team going nowhere can accumulate record setting yardage in a game or a player can score 80 points in an NBA contest. There's always a chance that any game can carry some significance.

Tennis is so different. There are few chances to revel or dwell on success for a lesser known. Which is why Ljubicic's triumph today was so gratifying. It was sport at its best as an unassuming, former higher ranked player refuse to disbelieve and played the match of his life against one of the best in the world. And the loss proved to be damaging to Nadal's ranking as he now falls to number four in the world (though that is somewhat misleading as he'll most likely gain ranking points back quickly considering he missed Wimbledon last year and lost early in the French Open).

Tomorrow Ljubicic will take on another married veteran in Andy Roddick. Roddick will be the clear favorite but don't be surprised if Ljubicic pulls off another upset. For in some ways this is his US Open or Wimbledon. He wants to prove his victory over Nadal today wasn't some abbreviated flashback to when he was a legitimate threat, albeit one unknown to the general sports fan. How could one not root for him?