American James Blake dominated top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-3, 6-1 on Sunday to win the Thailand Open final.
Third-seeded Blake controlled the match from start-to-finish with superior ground strokes and was never seriously challenged before wrapping up his fourth title of the year in less than an hour. "I played great since the beginning. His serves were a little off," said Blake. "It's a combination of me playing well and him not playing the best through the whole match. It happens to everyone."
Ljubicic, who downed Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan with the help of 17 aces to reach the final, seemed off his game. Blake stormed out to an early 2-0 lead in the first set and went up 4-0 after Ljubicic double faulted. Ljubicic won a game back with his powerful serve and trimmed Blake's lead to 5-3 before the American closed out the set with a strong forehand. In the second set, Ljubicic all but handed Blake the match with an error-prone performance that saw him repeatedly hit the ball into the net or out. Using his dominant forehand and backhand, Blake ran the score up to 5-1 before closing out the match after Ljubicic double faulted.
"He was too good. He read my serves perfectly," said Ljubicic. "He put a lot of pressure on me. He was more relaxed and had nothing to lose. I'm disappointed. I wanted to fight but I was never there from the first point."
The victory was Blake's seventh career ATP title and his first win against Ljubicic.
{{/usCountry}}The victory was Blake's seventh career ATP title and his first win against Ljubicic.
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