Top seed Rainer Schuettler of Germany broke a two-year drought when he captured the Japan Open with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 victory over Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean of France in Sunday's final.

Schuettler won his first title since the 2001 Shanghai tournament although he reached the Australian Open final this year only to be well beaten in three sets by Andre Agassi.

Here, the German did not drop a set in winning his five matches.

The second-seeded Grosjean was making his second appearance in a final - he lost to Andy Roddick on grass in the Stella Artois championships in June.

On this occasion, the Frenchman lost for the first time in three match-ups against Schuettler.

The defeat spoiled Grosjean's best hard court showing of the year.

He entered this event on a three-match losing streak and had not played since a first-round upset by Ramon Delgado in the US Open.