Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic took the Japan Open tennis title with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 victory over American Taylor Dent at Ariake Colosseum on October 10.

The fifth-seeded Novak, who eliminated Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals on Saturday, downed the seventh seed Dent with his efficient ground strokes for his sixth ATP title.

"I felt great the whole week," said the 28th-ranked 29-year-old.

"I beat Paradorn (Srichaphan) and (Lleyton) Hewitt, and Dent in the final, so I feel I was playing very well in Tokyo."

The first set witnessed five breaks of serve as Novak said that "we both started out a bit nervously, losing service games, but my confidence was high in the second and third sets."

After winning the first set, Novak improved his serve as the match wore on, stuck to the baseline and used his ground strokes to beat Dent at the net.

He broke Dent three times in the second set and once in the third to seal the match in one hour and 45 minutes.

Source: Xinhua