Blake rocks in Las Vegas

James Blake recorded a shock 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 win over top seed Lleyton Hewitt [Images] in the final of the Tennis Channel Open on Sunday.

American Blake relied on big forehands, pinpoint service returns and solid net play to defeat the Australian for the first time in seven attempts.

"I'm happy to finally get a win against one of the best players of all time," the fifth seed told reporters after scooping his fifth career title.

"It was big hurdle. We had played a lot of matches that went back and forth where he came out on top every time.

"To get a win in the final, were the top players are usually playing their best, it's a pretty good feeling."

Blake is now projected to rise to a career-high 14th when the world rankings are released on Monday.

Two of the fastest players in the game, Blake and Hewitt stood toe-to-toe trading groundstrokes from inside the baseline during the first set.

The 26-year-old American pierced Hewitt's armour when he broke to lead 6-5 with a dazzling backhand down the line.

Hewitt roared back in the second set, reading Blake's serves well and powering his backhands deep to break three times.

Blake immediately broke Hewitt with a backhand down the line in the third set but the Australian replied to 1-1.

The American then began to feast on Hewitt's second serves and bully him with forehands but was unable to serve out the match at 5-2 due to a slew of unforced errors.

But Blake stood strong in a spectacular final game, winning the contest on his second match point when he forced Hewitt into a forehand error.

Hewitt, who hasn't won a title in 14 months, said he was unlucky in the third set, when Blake got a couple of favourable net cords.

"Then he hit some cold winners and flattened some out," Hewitt said. "He just goes for it and stepped it up when he had to."

"It's a great confidence booster to beat one of the top players in the world going into Indian Wells and Miami [Images] where all the top players are going to be," he said.

"I don't need to go into matches against top players anymore thinking I don't have a good chance to win."

© Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.