Joachim Johansson has blasted his way into the ATP top 10 for the first time in his career after defeating Ivan Ljubicic in straight sets to win the Open 13 in Marseille.

The Swede has opened 2005 in excellent form and picked up his second ATP title of the year by shrugging off the challenge of the Croatian, winning 7-5 6-4.

Johansson hit 19 aces and faced no break points in his victory, breaking the Croatian at 5-5 in the first set and again at 2-2 in the second.

En route to capturing the title, Johansson defeated former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gilles Simon, Karol Beck, Feliciano Lopez and Ljubicic.

After emerging victorious in Memphis, this was the Swede's first victory in Europe and he was delighted with the landmark and his general standard of play.

He said: "Yes, it's my first title in Europe. It's nice to win tournaments all over the world but I haven't really thought about it that much.

"From 4-3 in the first set, I started to play better and to create more chances. At the start I had trouble reading his (Ljubicic) serve but then I started returning closer to the baseline. I got a lot more balls back in play and put more pressure on him.

"I served well and with more accuracy. I think I'm playing better than when six months ago, making less errors and more solid in the rallies."

Johansson attributed his improvement in form to a change of coach and revealed that his breakthrough into the top 10 has witnessed an achievement of a childhood goal.

He continued: "I got a new coach at the end of last year and things are going well. I've been working on coming in more after my serve and that worked well this week.

"So it's a good sign that I didn't drop serve all week, especially when experimenting with something new.

"It's great to break into the top 10. It's been a dream of mine since I was a kid and hopefully I can stay there."

Opponent Ljubicic was happy with his own display, particularly in the first set, and praised the improvements that Johansson has displayed in the past year.

He said: "Up until 5-5 in the first set I think I played a good match and was creating chances on his serve. But at 5-5, he raised his game and started making fewer mistakes, putting a lot of balls in court. He put more pressure on me and I missed a few shots.

"Against a player like him you don't expect a lot of breaks. But I think he's improved since last year. He's taking fewer risks, less big shots, and is more solid from the baseline."