© Ron Angle
Top-seeded American Andy Roddick won his third SAP Open title and the 24th singles title of his career by defeating Czech No. 4 seed Radek Stepanek 6-4, 7-5 in Sunday's final in San Jose.

Roddick broke Stepanek in the first game of the match and again in the penultimate game to secure the win in one hour and 20 minutes. He improved his career record against Stepanek to a perfect 4-0.

“I served well," said Roddick. "He didn’t really give me many chances so luckily a break of serve in each set was good.

"You survive a couple tough ones, you give yourself a chance to play well. I did that this week, and was able to bring my best stuff out in the semis and the finals."

Roddick was playing in his first ATP final since clinching the Washington title last August. The former World No. 1 now has a 24-13 record in ATP finals - 14 of his career titles have come on hard court, five on clay, one on carpet and four on grass.

The 25-year-old Roddick boasts an impressive 25-4 record in San Jose. He won a pair of titles in 2004 (d. Fish) and 2005 (d. Saulnier), and turned in semifinals finishes three times, including the last two years when he fell to eventual champion Andy Murray. He has lost just once prior to that stage, in his event debut in 2001 when he reached the second round.

In his only other tournament appearance of the 2008 season, the World No. 6 suffered an early exit at the Australian Open - a five-set loss to German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round. His record for the 2008 season now stands at 8-1.

The 29-year-old Stepanek fell to a 2-5 mark in ATP finals. He was looking to collect his third hard court title after wins in 2006 at Rotterdam (d. C. Rochus) and last July in Los Angeles (d. Blake).

World No. 34 Stepanek, who was making his San Jose debut this week, now has an 8-4 season record. The Czech was a semifinalist in Sydney (l. to Guccione) at the start of the year but lost in the first round in Adelaide and the Australian Open.

He said: "I'm happy with the way I played here the whole week and I’m looking forward to another tournament… I hope my form will stay like this and I will keep going."

ATP Tournament Profile | San Jose TV Schedule

Saturday: Roddick Closes In On Third San Jose Title
Friday: Ginepri Stuns Blake, Isner's Fortunes Fade
Thursday: Isner Guns Down Haas With 22 Aces, Saves 3 Match Points
Wednesday: Roddick Scrapes Through to Second Round
Tuesday: Blake Wins All-American Opener; Querrey Upset
Monday: Stepanek Wins in Debut; Four Americans Advance