American eighth seed James Blake [ Images ] battled back from the brink of defeat to capture the Sydney [ Images ] International title with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 victory over unseeded Russian Igor Andreev in Sydney 0on Saturday.

The 26-year-old world number 23 broke his opponent in the 12th game of the deciding set when Andreev was serving for the match to send the contest into a tiebreak, which the American won by a 7-3 margin.

Blake's victory serves as an ideal warm-up for the Australian Open [ Images ] starting in Melbourne [ Images ] on Monday, where he is due to play Argentine Jose Acasuso in the first round.

Clay court specialist Andreev opens his campaign against Spain's Nicolas Almagro.