Top seeded American John Isner edged past former World No 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia 7-6(1), 6-4 to successfully defended his grass-court title at the Campbell’s Hall Of Fame Tennis Championships on Sunday.

No breaks were exchanged in the first set and it went to the tie breaker where Isner just lost a single point. The American broke Hewitt in the third game of the second set and kept the distance till the end to close the match in straight sets.

“It feels very good,” said Isner. “It’s never easy coming to a tournament where in a previous year you won it. There’s a lot of pressure on you. You don’t do well, your ranking’s going to drop"

He added "I did well, I defended those points and I kept my ranking where it’s at. More importantly than that, I gained a lot of confidence from this week just as I did last year. I had a great, great summer last year. I hope to have much of the same this year.”

Hewitt was bidding to win his 29th singles title and first since 2010, when he defeated Roger Federer in Halle.

“A lot of positives have come out of this week. Grass is a tough surface to come back on after any kind of surgery, and especially foot surgery, where my movement is such a big thing, because on grass you’re in the wrong positions a lot of the time. You’ve got to have that confidence in your footwork." said Hewitt.

With this win, Isner pocketed $68,220 and 250 ranking points, while Hewitt took $35,920 and 150 points.