MELBOURNE, Jan 14: World number three Andy Roddick fended off four set points in the second set on his way to defeating Germany’s Tommy Haas 6-3 7-6 in the final of the invitational Kooyong Classic on Saturday.

The victory was the American’s first in the eight-man invitational event, which is one of the traditional warm-up tournaments for the Australian Open starting in Melbourne on Monday.

After taking the first set, the 23-year-old American lost concentration in the second allowing Haas, who had beaten Federer on Wednesday, to jump out to a 5-2 lead and then a 0-40 advantage in the eighth game.

Roddick, however, used his booming serve to save the game and then his powerful forehand in the next to earn a break.

He levelled at 5-5 in the next game and had three break points in the 11th before Haas also scrambled his way back to take a 6-5 lead.

Roddick sent the match into the tiebreak and then jumped out to a 3-0 lead before

Haas fought his way back to 5-5 on a superb running backhand pass.

The American, however, was not to be denied and held his last two service points to win the tiebreak 8-6.

Nieminen’s first title

WELLINGTON: Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen won a first ATP tour title in his fifth final with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Croatian number five seed Mario Ancic at the Auckland Open on Saturday.