Greg Rusedski claimed his first title since January after defeating Spain's Felix Mantilla in the final of the RCA Championships in Indianapolis.

The British number two, who last tasted tournament success in Auckland, beat world number one Lleyton Hewitt in round three on his way to this showdown.

And he made sure that notable victory was not in vain by fighting back from the loss of the first set on a tie-break to win 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-4.

Rusedski has defeated the top three players in the ATP rankings in the last 13 days.

The 28-year-old knocked out world number two Marat Safin in last week's Masters Series event at Cincinnati before a stunning win over top man Lleyton Hewitt in round three of these championships and then a semi-final win over German Tommy Haas.

And it was the Briton's serve which helped him pick up the winner's cheque for £72,600, breaking Mantilla in both the second and final set.

However, Rusedski earlier lost his cool when at set-point down in the tie-break, Mantilla's return looked long.

The British number two was furious with the call and threw his racket down in disgust, but the decision stood.

Rusedski regained his composure to break at 4-3 in the second set and held his serve to level the match.

He broke the Spaniard again in the seventh game of the final set and then battled back from 40-0 down in the next to hold his service game before going on to close out the match 6-4 and take the title.

Rusedski is hoping to use his victory as a springboard for the US Open which gets under way in Flushing Meadows at the end of the month and where he reached the final in 1997.

"I'm excited about winning this trophy because this tournament has had great champions in the past," he said.

"Many of those have gone on to have great success at the US Open and I hope to do the same.

"This win is very good for my confidence. In the past two weeks I've won a tournament and beaten the top three players in the world, so I have to think that not too many people will want to see my name in the first round of the US Open.

"It's good for me because I feel like I've been battling back for two years, since I was six in the world and I think I've been very close to breaking through. This will help me to be able to do that."

Mantilla said: "Greg served very well today and that made it tough for me.

"He deserved to win it because of all the pressure he put on me. When he's serving huge it makes it bad for you."