BANGKOK, Oct 1: 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 capitalise on 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.

In the doubles final, Israel’s Andy Ram and Jonathan Ulrich beat British brothers Andy and Jamie Murray 6-2, 2-6, 10-4.—Reuters