Blake breezes past Ljubicic

BANGKOK – James Blake of the United States powered past a below-par Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-1 in less than an hour to win the $550 000 Thailand Open on Sunday.

Blake stunned the Croatian by opening up a 5-0 lead in the first set, as Ljubicic failed to produce his trademark big serve. The American broke his opponent at the start of the second set before Ljubicic’s game completely fell apart – the Croatian finding the net almost as often as the court.Blake used his pace and powerful backhand drives to put the match beyond Ljubicic and take his fourth title of the year.”I felt like I was returning great because his serve was off from the start, and it stayed off,” Blake told a news conference.”When he’s winning, it’s because of his serve and I took advantage of that and heaped pressure on him the whole match.”It was a combination of me playing well and him having a bad match,” added Blake, who sealed victory in 58 minutes for his third straight sets win of the tournament.Nampa-ReutersThe American broke his opponent at the start of the second set before Ljubicic’s game completely fell apart – the Croatian finding the net almost as often as the court.Blake used his pace and powerful backhand drives to put the match beyond Ljubicic and take his fourth title of the year.”I felt like I was returning great because his serve was off from the start, and it stayed off,” Blake told a news conference.”When he’s winning, it’s because of his serve and I took advantage of that and heaped pressure on him the whole match.”It was a combination of me playing well and him having a bad match,” added Blake, who sealed victory in 58 minutes for his third straight sets win of the tournament.Nampa-Reuters