Blake Successfully Defends Stockholm Title
Posted on October 16, 2006Top seed and defending champion James Blake claimed his fifth title of the year after defeating Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-2 in the Stockholm Open final on Sunday.
It is the first time Blake has successfully defended a title and the first time he has won titles in consecutive tournaments played. Including his victory two weeks ago in Bangkok, Blake will take a 10-match winning streak into next week's ATP Masters Series event in Madrid which begins Monday.
"It's a great feeling," Blake said of his first career successful title defense. "I haven't had that many opportunities to defend titles as I've only really started winning titles in the last one and half years but thankfully I'm starting to get more opportunities. Who knows, maybe I can come back here next year and get a three-peat. But that's the last of my worries right now. I beat some great players this week and I'm proud of what I have accomplished. I'm now 10-0 in Stockholm. This is a great place to come and play."
Blake delivered just 47% first serves but won every point when his first serve found its target. He dropped serve once on the one break point he faced in the match while breaking Nieminen four times.
"Jarkko fought hard and he never gave up," Blake added. "I wouldn't say that he was tired. Maybe he went for a little too much towards the end but it's hard to say that. It's such a fine line -- if some of those shots had gone in, the match could have turned around pretty quickly."
Nieminen, 25, was playing in his second final of the year following his first career title in Auckland at the start of the year. The runner-up effort was the Finn's fifth in his career.
"I didn't feel tired but I just missed a lot of easy shots today," Nieminan said. "James was the best player this week and he is such a nice guy off court as well, he really deserved to win."
It is the first time Blake has successfully defended a title and the first time he has won titles in consecutive tournaments played. Including his victory two weeks ago in Bangkok, Blake will take a 10-match winning streak into next week's ATP Masters Series event in Madrid which begins Monday.
"It's a great feeling," Blake said of his first career successful title defense. "I haven't had that many opportunities to defend titles as I've only really started winning titles in the last one and half years but thankfully I'm starting to get more opportunities. Who knows, maybe I can come back here next year and get a three-peat. But that's the last of my worries right now. I beat some great players this week and I'm proud of what I have accomplished. I'm now 10-0 in Stockholm. This is a great place to come and play."
Blake delivered just 47% first serves but won every point when his first serve found its target. He dropped serve once on the one break point he faced in the match while breaking Nieminen four times.
"Jarkko fought hard and he never gave up," Blake added. "I wouldn't say that he was tired. Maybe he went for a little too much towards the end but it's hard to say that. It's such a fine line -- if some of those shots had gone in, the match could have turned around pretty quickly."
Nieminen, 25, was playing in his second final of the year following his first career title in Auckland at the start of the year. The runner-up effort was the Finn's fifth in his career.
"I didn't feel tired but I just missed a lot of easy shots today," Nieminan said. "James was the best player this week and he is such a nice guy off court as well, he really deserved to win."