Roger Federer with his trophy on Sunday

Key Biscayne: Roger Federer got his racket on Ivan Ljubicic’s serve Sunday afternoon and hit a low, angled backhand return that struck the top of the net and landed softly on the other side, beyond Ljubicic’s reach.

After three tie-breakers and nearly three hours, the men’s Miami Masters final was over, though it could be argued that the outcome was never really in doubt.

Federer defeated Ljubicic 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6) to win his second consecutive Masters Series event this year, his second consecutive Nasdaq-100 Open and his 28th match in 29 appearances in 2006 (as reported in Monday’s Late City edition).

The net-cord winner on match point was a new wrinkle, and the handful of shanked shots that Federer produced during the match at Crandon Park were out of the ordinary. But when it really mattered, Federer was his unflappable self.

“This is very nice, you know, to have such a close match and come through it and show once again, you know, that I really belong in the No. 1 position and deserve all these trophies I have,” Federer said.

After winning seven majors, does Federer really have to prove he belongs atop the tennis world? “Day in and day out,” he said, “yeah, I do.”

As Federer was introduced before the match, the old Pat Benatar hit Hit Me With Your Best Shot boomed over the public-address system. There was nothing subliminal about the message.

Since the start of 2004, few players have been able to stop the Federer Express. In that time, he has won 183 of 194 matches ? a 94.3 percent success rate ? and 26 of 37 tournaments.

Federer, 24, has not lost a match in the United States since August 2004, when he was defeated by Dominik Hrbaty in Cincinnati. With his victory against Ljubicic, he extended his winning streak in the United States to 48 matches.

From where Federer stood, Ljubicic, 27, had the look of a dangerous adversary. He entered the match with a 25-3 record this year, which was second only to Federer’s on the Tour. He had dropped only one set in five matches en route to the final, the same as Federer. And his collection of strokes, starting with his serve, was big enough to hurt Federer.

But while Ljubicic’s game is comparable to Federer’s, he does not have the same self-belief. After reaching the final by defeating David Nalbandian, Ljubicic, in an allusion to Federer’s dominance, quipped: “That’s one thing we all have in common. We play tennis, and then we play against Roger and we lose.”

Ljubicic moved Federer around deftly enough to take him out of his comfort zone. The first set took 59 minutes, which was all the time Federer had needed to dispatch his semi-final opponent, David Ferrer. Ljubicic had 21 aces in the match but only one backhand winner. He produced 53 unforced errors, two more than Federer, who won 124 points to Ljubicic’s 121.

Ljubicic was able to lead Federer to the precipice of defeat, but he could not push him over. In the tie-breakers, Federer made terrific shots and Ljubicic made nervous errors. In the second-set tie-breaker, Ljubicic took a 4-1 lead, then played two poor points, hitting a backhand service return wide and a forehand into the net. Federer hit a forehand winner to draw even at 4-4, then won the next three points.

In the third-set tie-breaker, Ljubicic earned a set point with a forehand winner, only to watch Federer unfurl a 118-mph kick serve for a winner to even the score at 6-6. He followed it with a 129-mph service winner, then closed out the match.

“He definitely played more relaxed and more confident than I did,” Ljubicic said.