Top seed Lleyton Hewitt thwarted Andre Agassi's comeback at San Jose with a fightback of his own to take the ATP Siebel Open title.

The Australian came from one set down to beat the tournament second seed 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4).

It was Agassi's first official tournament of the year, and his first competitive action since withdrawing on the eve of January's Australian Open with a wrist injury.

The victory was given extra gloss for Hewitt as Agassi is now coached by his former mentor, Darren Cahill.

Hewitt, whose new coach is former Australia Davis Cup star Jason Stoltenberg, said: "It's definitely up there with some of the other big wins in my career, up there with beating Gustavo Kuerten in Davis Cup, (Alberto) Costa (in the 2000 Davis Cup), the US Open and the Tennis Masters Cup.

"It doesn't get much better than that," he added.

"I served well at the right time and to stand up on the big points gives me confidence going into big matches.

"To keep that level up for three tough sets, and to come up with big points in the tie-break was extremely difficult.

"I believe in myself and I've come through in tough situations in Davis Cup and nothing really worries me.

"I have a never-say-die attitude.

"This week has been great and I said before the tournament that I would struggle in the first couple of rounds. Then I stepped it up in the last three rounds."

Agassi, who was playing in his first official tournament since the Tennis Masters Cup in Sydney in mid-November, said: "He's a great competitor and he plays situations in his own hands.

"It's a great quality to have.

"We both kept raising our levels, but my focus is on the opportunity and it slipped away from me.

"He's extremely quick around the court and he steps up. You have to punch the clock - start to finish.

"Credit to him, he stepped up on match point. It's hard to be happy right now but I got a lot out of this."