Croatian Ivan Ljubicic defeated Andy Murray 6-4 6-4 on Saturday to lift the $1 million (518,000 pound) Qatar Open title and take the number one ranking in the ATP Champions Race.

Ljubicic, who had a memorable year in 2006 winning three titles, relied on his big serve and fluent backhands to wear out the British number one.

The 27-year-old Croat will be the new number one when the ATP Race rankings come out on Monday.

"It's a great feeling to come back and win here after being the runner-up in 2004 and 2005," Ljubicic told reporters.

"The crowd has been fantastic and it's a great feeling to be the number one...although it may be for a short period."