Easy Victory for Blake

James Blake dominated top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic, 6-3, 6-1, to win the Thailand Open final Sunday at Bangkok.

Third-seeded Blake controlled the match from the start with superior ground strokes, wrapping up in less than an hour his fourth title of the year.

“I played great since the beginning. His serves were a little off,” Blake said. “It’s a combination of me playing well and him not playing the best through the whole match. It happens to everyone.”

Blake stormed to an early 2-0 lead in the first set and went up 4-0 after Ljubicic double-faulted. Ljubicic won a game back with his powerful serve and trimmed Blake’s lead to 5-3 before the American closed out the set.

In the second set, Blake capitalized on Ljubicic’s unforced errors, taking a 5-1 lead before closing out the match after Ljubicic double-faulted.

The victory was Blake’s seventh career ATP title and his first win against Ljubicic.

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Eleni Daniilidou held on for a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (3) win over fourth-seeded Ai Sugiyama in the Korea Open final at Seoul.... Alona Bondarenko swept past fifth-seeded Francesca Schiavone, 6-3, 6-2, to win the Fortis championship at Luxembourg.... Filippo Volandri won the second title of his career by beating Nicolas Lapentti, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, at the Palermo International in Sicily.... Anna Chakvetadze cruised past Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-1, 6-4, to win the Guangzhou Open at Beijing.... The Mumbai Open final between Tomas Berdych and Dmitry Tursunov was postponed until today because of rain at Mumbai, India.

GOLF

Trahan Picks Up His First PGA Tour Title

D.J. Trahan won the Southern Farm Bureau Classic at Madison, Miss., for his first PGA Tour victory, birdieing the par-five 18th hole three consecutive times in a playoff to hold off Joe Durant.

Trahan won with a five-foot birdie putt on the third extra hole after closing with a one-under-par 71 to match Durant (66) at 13-under 275 on the Annandale Golf Club course. Trahan holed the winning putt after Durant missed a five-footer.

Trahan, a second-year tour player who led after each of the first three rounds, earned $540,000 and a two-year PGA Tour exemption. He began the week 142nd on the money list with $474,242.

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Andy Bean won the Greater Hickory Classic at Conover, N.C., for his first Champions Tour title, two-putting for birdie from 25 feet to beat R.W. Eaks on the first playoff hole.

Bean, the leader after each of the first two rounds, closed with a four-under 68 to match Eaks (65) at 15-under 201 on Rock Barn Golf and Spa’s Jones Course and force the first playoff in tournament history. Bean two-putted for birdie on the first extra hole, and Eaks’ four-foot birdie try hit the lip and spun out.

The 53-year-old Bean, who earned a career-best $240,000, won in his 91st start on the 50-and-over tour after winning 11 times on the PGA Tour.

MOTOR RACING

Schumacher Wins, Catches Alonso

With two races to go, Formula One’s season couldn’t be closer.

Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher’s victory in the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai ties him with defending champion Fernando Alonso of Renault at 116 points.

Alonso was second and Renault teammate Giancarlo Fisichella third in a race that started wet and whose outcome was largely determined by tire choices as the track dried.

Alonso had the pole but lost the lead on the 31st lap. He had to struggle back to finish second.

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Rookie J.R. Todd raced to his third top-fuel victory of the year, using a career-best pass of 4.494 seconds to power past Melanie Troxel in the final of the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa.

In only 16 professional starts, Todd has pushed his final-round record to 3-0.

In funny car, Phil Burkart scored an unlikely victory over Robert Hight to win for the first time in 53 races. Three-time pro stock champ Greg Anderson won his 42nd title, and Karen Stoffer topped the pro stock motorcycle field.

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Ben Spies won his first AMA Superbike championship, finishing eighth at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course at Lexington, Ohio, to earn enough points to hold off Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Mat Mladin for the title.

The 22-year-old Spies beat Mladin in the final standings by eight points, 649-641. Mladin, the six-time AMA Superbike champ from Australia, won the race, beating Aaron Yates by 4.132 seconds.

HOCKEY

Devils Trade Malakhov to the Sharks

The New Jersey Devils made a major move to get under the NHL salary cap by sending suspended defenseman Vladimir Malakhov and a conditional first-round draft pick to San Jose for defenseman Jim Fahey and the rights to left wing Alexander Korolyuk.

The deal will save the Devils $3.6 million -- Malakhov’s salary -- on their cap, and it probably won’t cost New Jersey much because Korolyuk will play in Russia again this season, and Fahey might not make the roster.

With the NHL season scheduled to open this week, Devils President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello has been searching for ways to get under the $44-million cap.