American James Blake outclassed Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-2 to retain his Stockholm Open title on Sunday and boost his chances of appearing in the season-ending Masters Cup for the first time.
"It's great, it's one more thing I have accomplished on the tour. I've never done it successfully before," Blake said after clinching his fifth title of the year and his second in succession after winning in Bangkok a fortnight ago.
" haven't really had that many chances because I've only really been winning tournaments the last year or the last year and a half," the American second seed said with a smile.
"The next year I'll have a few more chances."
With impressive baseline play and his powerful serve, Blake put the Finn under constant pressure throughout.
In the second set Blake grabbed two breaks and overran Nieminen, who also lost the final here in 2001 against Dutchman Sjeng Schalken.
"In the end he maybe started going for a little more than he usually does. I don't know if it was fatigue, or if it was me playing kind of well and winning a lot of the big points, that can wear on people sometimes," said Blake.
"I'm proud of the accomplishment. I beat some pretty darn good players here this week."
"I think I have improved. I played better now that I did here last year... I feel my backhand is a lot more solid than it was last year, I'm serving better, and I think mentally I'm better."
Blake is well-set to appear in the eight-man Masters Cup held in Shanghai in November having consolidated sixth place in the standings.
