Big-hitting James Blake sounded an Australian Open warning with a thrilling three-set victory over Carlos Moya in the final of the Sydney International.

Blake outclassed the veteran Spaniard 6-3 5-7 6-1 to join former world No.1s Pete Sampras and Lleyton Hewitt as the only players in the professional era to snare back-to-back titles in Sydney.

Victory gave the American his sixth title in 12 months. Only current world No.1 Roger Federer, with 12, has accrued more silverware over the past year.

Blake's success also armed the world No.5 with an important psychological advantage for his first-round Open showdown with Moya at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.

Blake has every right to be oozing confidence heading into the first grand slam of 2007.

He crowned his career year with a storming run to the final of the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai in November, when only the mighty Federer was able to halt his progress.

Two months on and Blake looks every bit a major contender.

Striking clean winners to all parts of the court, the 27-year-old threatened to utterly destroy Moya when he led by a set and 4-0 before the gallant Spaniard threatened to pull off a miraculous comeback.

Bidding to become the oldest champion in Sydney since Australian John Alexander in 1982, 30-year-old Moya dragged himself off the canvas to win seven of the next eight games to force a deciding set.

But having survived a series of epic encounters already this week just to make the final, it was too big an ask of Moya to escape yet again.

He saved a match point in the first round against Australian wildcard Luke Bourgeois and five match points in his second-round victory over fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

He then rallied from 5-3 down in the third set against Cypress' 2006 Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis in the quarter-finals before outlasting French sixth seed Richard Gasquet in a three-set semi-final.

He simply ran out of legs against Blake, whose twin successes in Sydney places him in esteemed company.

Sampras (1993-94) and Hewitt, who has achieved the feat twice - in 2000-01 and 2004-05 - are the only other players in 40 years to have successfully defended their crown at the third-oldest tournament in world tennis.

As it was, Blake was delighted last year to have joined his idol Arthur Ashe - the champion in 1970 - as the only other African-Americans to have reigned in Sydney.

Now he has surpassed Ashe's efforts at a tournament first contested way back in 1885.

Only Wimbledon, the most prestigious event of them all, and Newport have been running longer.

For Moya, it was a case of third time unlucky after the one-time world No.1 also lost finals in Sydney in 1997 to Tim Henman and in 2004 to Hewitt.

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