Rising American star Robby Ginepri captured his first career ATP title with a three-set victory over Austria's Jurgen Melzer in the final of the Miller Lite Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport.

The 20-year-old, seeded fourth here, eventually came through 6-4 6-7 (3/7) 6-1 to claim the title, having served for the match at 5-4 in the second set.

"I'm pretty ecstatic to win my first title," Ginepri said.

"I was a little upset after I lost my serve while serving for the match at 5-4 in the second. I was a little tight serving for my first title. It's difficult to serve it out.

"I wanted to stay focused, wanted to regroup in the third. Being up 5-1 in the third, I didn't think I was going to lose."

Ginepri, who had not dropped a set en route to his first ATP final with victories over Prakash Amritraj, Dennis Van Scheppingen, Ivan Miranda and Gregory Carraz, opened up a 3-1 lead in the first set before taking it in 29 minutes.

He seemed to be cruising towards his first title when he broke Melzer's serve at 4-4 in the second set with a backhand pass.

But the American was broken to love as Melzer took the set into a tie-break and forced a decider with a winning cross-court lob.

Melzer, the 22-year-old left-hander from Vienna who also was appearing in his first final, could not carry his momentum in the final set, as Ginepri broke to lead 3-1 and again to lead 5-1 before sealing victory.

Melzer, the eighth seed, reached the final with three-set victories against Nicolas Thomann and Julian Knowle, a straight sets win over Jeff Salzenstein and a three-set victory over Bob Bryan in the semi-finals.