Paul battles past Burruchaga to win ATP Houston title

Paul, 28, held his nerve in a nail-biting third set to dig out a 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 triumph in 2hr 40min to claim the fifth ATP title of his career.

The American had looked to be heading for defeat after the 77th-ranked Burruchaga engineered a trio of match points while leading 5-3 on Paul's serve in the decisive third set.

But Paul showed tremendous resilience to put out that fire and hold, and then broke Burruchaga in the next game to square the match at 5-5.

Buoyed by that narrow escape, Paul then held to love to go 6-5 up, and suddenly the pressure was all on the 24-year-old from Buenos Aires, playing in his first ATP final.

Burruchaga, the son of 1986 World Cup-winning footballer Jorge Burruchaga, appeared equal to the challenge after going 40-0 up.

Yet once again Paul dug deep and clawed his way back to deuce.

The American moved to match point when Burruchaga drilled a backhand wide down the line, and then clinched victory when the South American yanked a wild forehand long on the next point.