Top seed Andy Roddick ended the fairy tale run of 416th-ranked John Isner by beating the tour rookie 6-4, 7-6 in the $600,000 Washington Open on Sunday.
Roddick served a modest 12 aces in the 80-minute match but had the only service break between the two hard-hitting Americans.
Isner, 22, entered the final having been broken only four times in 86 service games this week but Roddick broke the 2007 NCAA finalist from the University of Georgia in the seventh game of the opening set to take a 4-3 lead.
Roddick served out the set knowing he still had work to do as the towering Isner had won each of his previous matches this week in third-set tiebreakers.
In the second-set tiebreaker, Roddick achieved a mini-break to take a 3-1 lead and served out the match for a 7-4 triumph.
"I felt like I was putting pressure on him," Roddick said after his 23rd career title. "If he wasn't winning the point on his serve, then felt like I had a pretty good shot at the point.
"I was making him serve well out of jams. I had him up against it in the second set but he came up with aces. There's really not much you can do about that."
SECOND TOURNAMENT
Isner, a North Carolina native playing in just his second ATP tournament, gained entry into the Washington event as a wild card when Fernando Gonzalez withdrew with a sore back.
Among his upset victims this week were number two Tommy Haas, number eight seed Benjamin Becker, ninth-seeded Gael Monfils and Britain's Tim Henman.
"I had so many memories here," said the 6-foot-9 Isner, who turned pro two months ago and does not yet have a coach. "Each match I thought was amazing but I kept on topping it.
"I'll always remember playing Andy Roddick in an ATP final. You can never take that away from me. It's a dream come true, an unbelievable honor. I'll never, ever forget it."
Isner, wonderfully athletic for his height, had only 12 aces but was successful on 69 percent of his first serves.
"I wasn't nervous, to tell you the truth," said Isner, a first-round victim in his only other ATP event. "I knew I was going to hold my serve and I did for the most part."
