Roddick claims fourth title of year

Andy Roddick captured his fourth title of the year Sunday as he fired 18 aces to defeat fellow American James Blake 7-5, 6-3 in the final of the $600,000 Washington Classic.

Roddick won 10 of 11 service games against Blake -- and 63 of 64 this week -- to give notice that he is ready to contend for the upcoming U.S. Open championship.

"I definitely feel good," said Roddick, the number one seed. "I couldn't be happier as far as my preparation. I just want to try to have this roll over into the next couple of weeks."

Roddick, the 2001 champion here, took advantage of careless service games by 25-year-old Blake late in each set to win the match and a $74,250 paycheck.

The fifth-ranked Roddick, 23 later this month, broke Blake's serve in the second game of the match to grab a 2-0 lead. But Blake returned the favor in the seventh game, Roddick's first service loss of the week, and the two were back on serve.

"I wasn't upset because I didn't feel like I played a bad game," said Roddick. "He took a couple of full swings on my first serves and hit them flush.

"It's a lot easier to get broken when the other guy has come up with the goods as opposed to feeling like you gave it away. I just had to re-focus."

With Roddick leading 6-5 Blake played a loose service game and when he punched an easy overhead beyond the baseline, the first set was over.

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"He missed a couple of shots that he hadn't missed to that point," said Roddick. "But that's tennis. If you put enough balls in the court, you're going to get some that go your way.

"It was unexpected but I was happy to see it."

In the second set Blake trailed 4-3 when he played an error-prone service game to let Roddick break. Roddick then closed out the match with an ace, his 67th this week in five matches.

Roddick's powerful serve was the difference in the match. In addition to the aces he put pressure on Blake with dozens of serves that his opponent barely managed to reach.

"He just puts so much pressure on you with that serve," conceded Blake.

Early last year Blake suffered a broken neck during practice and then contracted a condition that hampered his vision and caused facial paralysis.

The New York native, the 2003 Washington Classic champion, saw his ranking fall off the charts but he should move up some 30 spots to about number 72. His career best ranking is 22, achieved in 2003.

"It hurts to lose right now but when I look back on this week I'll be satisfied that I played some good tennis," he said. "But right now it stings."