In a clash involving two of the brightest prospects in men's tennis, Andy Roddick captured the fourth ATP title of his career with a 6-4 3-6 7-5 victory over James Blake in an all-American final at the Kroger St Jude in Memphis.

Roddick, still only 19 years of age, became the youngest winner in Memphis since Andre Agassi took the title in 1988 as an 18-year-old.

"We were just battling and fighting it out from start to finish," said Roddick, who was two games from defeat in his second round match against Andre Sa, trailing by a set and 4-0 before battling back.

"I think it has been one of the best weeks for me mentally. I had to fight hard in all my matches and it's something I am particularly proud of this week."

In a match of high quality tennis from the first point, Roddick made the perfect start as he broke Blake's serve in the opening game.

After taking the first set in 25 minutes, Roddick was firing on all cylinders and looked to be in full control of the match.

But Blake, who had to reach the final the hard way with wins over Michael Chang, Taylor Dent, top seed Tommy Haas and third seed Jan-Michael Gambill, fought his way back into the match, breaking the formidable Roddick serve in the first game of the second set.

Despite losing his advantage at 4-2 after a double fault on break point, Blake regained his composure to win eight of the next nine points, breaking Roddick's serve before holding his own to love to take the match into a deciding set.

With the crowd giving both players a standing ovation in the middle of the match, Blake struck the first blow to break Roddick and take a 3-2 lead.

But Roddick, looking to add to his previous titles in Atlanta, Houston and Washington, refused to lie down and hit back immediately with some breathtaking rallies.

As the set seemed destined for a third set tie-break, Roddick sensed an opportunity leading 6-5, and a backhand pass from the teenager on match point, was enough to clinch victory.

"I've never seen a crowd give a standing ovation in the middle of the match," said Roddick. "James has improved night and day, especially since the US Open."

For Blake, playing in his first career final, it was a disappointing end to what had been a great week for the 22-year-old.

"When you get to this level, you really hate to lose," said Blake. "I've improved a lot but Andy has improved his ranking really fast. He's making it look at lot easier than it is and I don't understand how he has that much energy.

"But I'm improving all the time and I've had some big wins this week. It's definitely a great time for American tennis and I hope it will continue."