Mark Philippoussis claimed his first tour title in two years with a 6-2 6-1 thrashing of Jiri Novak in Shanghai.

The third-seeded Australian needed just 45 minutes to see off his under-par opponent to pick up his first trophy since he triumphed in Memphis in 2001.

It is his 10th career title with eight of those coming on his preferred surface of hard courts.

The ease of the win on Sunday was a surprise to the spectators and, as he admitted later, to Philippoussis himself.

"I was definitely expecting a tough match. I was ready for it mentally and I was pumped," he said.

"I was aggressive in all the points of my game. I didn't want him to dictate and I wanted to be intimidating and dominant on the court.

"This will definitely help my confidence. If you get to a lot of finals and don't win then it's like getting over a hump. I'm very happy with the way I played my match, more than winning the title.

"Not taking anything away from him, but I put him on the back foot from the word go. I'd like to think I didn't let him play his game. That was my strategy."

A disappointed Novak, who was the top seed, conceded Philippoussis had simply been too good on the day.

"From the beginning I felt good on the court but Mark played excellent tennis," said the Czech.

"He was killing the shots and dominating the court. I had only one break point. It was a bad day at the office."